The Hat of Hohwald
by Talon Shields
Summary: Brielle Hawkins has always been curious about her family. As a foster child, she'd never known her parents - never even seen them. When she's adopted by the Madrack family, things rapidly change. Brielle enrolls in the Aboriginal School of Indigenous Magic, and for some reason, everyone already knows her. Join Brielle on her journey figuring out who she is and more about her past.
1. Preface

**Preface**

**A/N: Hello! This is the first "chapter", but since it doesn't really have to do with the story line other than the background, so I'm calling it the Preface. A special thanks to my friend T for editing this for me, as well as R (nobaba) of hpluver394 for also editing. It really meant a lot that these two went through and worked with me on it :)**

**If you like the story, please be sure to favorite/review it :) I'd really appreciate it!**

**Disclaimer: I'm not writing about Hogwarts, or Harry, or any of the typical HP things, so please stick with it :) I hope y'all like it!**

**~J**

It seemed like ages before the bus came on the oddly brisk summer day. The young, quiet girl was used to that, though; she knew the drill for the bus here. As she waited, she admired the stop and watched the familiar trees swaying with the wind, the common flowers on the ground that were, to Muggle passersby, weeds. She would eventually know their full potential, though; to her, these weeds would become complicated ingredients in a solution that could kill as easily as heal. But, not yet. Not for another few years.

Her gray eyes scanned the buildings, as she most likely wouldn't see them again for a month or so. However long this house was going to keep her. She wasn't sure; it always varied depending on the family. She didn't _expect _to stay for a while, at least; only a few months. Nowhere near as long as she ended up living there. Besides, not all families in the system could keep a young eight year old like herself for very long. Their excuses were all the same: "she's too energetic" or "we can't handle another family member right now". That word, _handle_, it was the most ridiculous word she'd ever heard. What was there to _handle _about her? She didn't take up much time or space… She wasn't super active and she trained herself not to need much attention from the families.

She snapped out of her thoughts when the bus skidded to a halt in front of her, the driver slamming on the breaks. "All aboard, kid," the recognizable voice announced out of his speaker that sat atop the bus. He was late, but that, too, was familiar, like everything about today - everything except the people she was about to meet.

"Oi, Brielle Hawkins." The faded, silverish body of a man stood roughly from the seat as the doors squealed and opened narrowly. His plump body solidified as he walked down the stairs and squeezed out the door, allowing him to seem rather normal. More so than he was, at least.

He exited the door and hit the ground hard, the bus shaking after he stepped down, then threw Brielle's single bag into the bottom of the bus. He held a hand out expectantly as she forked over the eight sickles and one knut that she was given to buy a ticket. The stern bus driver counted the money warily, as if it wasn't obviously the same amount she gave him about once a month, but he pulled a ticket out of his pocket and punched a small hole in the top anyways, right over the date. He handed the little green slip of paper to the girl, the color signaling that she was an unaccompanied minor, and they both boarded the automobile.

"Where to?" he asked gruffly as Brielle found a plush red couch close to the front. She saw that there were two other wizards already on the bus - one sleeping with an arm slung across his face, the other on the second of three levels eating a bagel and reading the paper. There was a picture on the front of the periodical of a young baby, which appeared in its mothers arms, and then was taken by the father. She guessed they were some sort of a famous couple that Brielle should've known but really didn't. Nonetheless, she would've paid _anything _to see her with her parents like that.

Brielle sighed and removed the other slip of paper - a white one - from her pocket with the new house's address on it. She slowly examined the delicate handwriting on it, and then realized she already knew what part of town it was located in. "I'm headed to Wexford," she explained. She twirled an old wand between her fingers, the one that she typically kept in her boot. Her mother had left it for her when she dropped Brielle at The Continental Orphanage for Witches and Wizards - or just Continental, to Brielle - but it had no use to her; the woman who ran Continental had tried to teach her a few spells with it, but the wand didn't respond well to the young witch. She reserved it as a keepsake anyways, as it was the only part of her past and real parents she had left, even though it didn't work correctly.

"Again?" he asked with a raised brow as he started the engine and locked down the gas pedal of the bus. It lurched forward and began to weave in and out of other cars on its own. "Second time in two months."

"I know, Roger," Brielle said with a tad bit of an annoyed tone as she sat back; sometimes, though, she couldn't tell the difference between an attitude and her own accent… Roger didn't seem to take offense, though, so it was alright.

She had been sent to another household in the area of Wexford at the beginning of the month, and now she was back, headed to the... Madrack... house… or whatever their last name was. She hoped she had a better experience here, as the other family had sent her back within two weeks because she "didn't wash the floors fast enough" and "forgot to make little Kylie's bed in the mornings". Of course they just used the same standard excuses as everyone else when they sent her back. Sometimes people seemed to think that this was a maid service rather than a foster-care system. Either way, she was surprised the Madracks picked her up so quickly after that; they signed up to take her less than a week after her return.

Roger, the bus driver, plopped down on the chair near her, next to the coffee table. Brielle watched the wheel of the bus twist and turn quickly and spastically, and she always wondered how Roger kept a job if all he had to do was set the Wizarding Positional System (WPS) to Wexford or wherever they were going and then hit autopilot. After that, he was turned and talking to the girl in no time. But, as it only took 15 minutes to reach the new address, they didn't get to chat as much as she would have liked. Although Roger appeared rough on the outside, he was a sweet soul. Literally, soul. Oh yes, Roger was a ghost.

Yet another reason Brielle pondered whether his job was true or not.

He always calmed her nerves before a new home, probably because he knew about all of the families she was staying with. "The Madracks, huh?" he asked as he picked his teeth with a ghostly toothpick he stored in his jacket pocket. "Yeah, I know 'em."

That's how the conversation always started. He made her feel like the family was a mess by his tone of voice, but then gave her the good stuff on them. Though this time, he seemed to have more good things than he did about the other families. "Joseph and Larissa. Nice couple, really, they are. Shame, it is, Larissa's always working…and a Muggle. She'd be an excellent witch, that one, if you asked me." For as much of a shame as it was, Brielle didn't mind when the mother worked a lot. She had always taken to fathers, or any male figure, more than wives or sisters. They were the easiest to relate to; no nails, no hair, no drama. Men mostly enjoyed food and sports - particularly Quidditch, which Brielle adored.

"Oh, and Evan," he added with a bit of a perkier tone to his voice, which was a nice change from his typical grumbling, "Man oh man, Evan. He graduated from Aboriginal, in the Western Europe division, you know. He's a real professor there now, he is. Potions. Youngest professor in the school, I do believe."

Brielle raised an eyebrow. A workaholic Muggle mother and a wizarding father and son? Perfect setup.

Soon after Roger mentioned a few more facts about each family member, the bus rolled to a halt in front of an average sized, rustic looking house. It was wider than it was high and built of green siding with some parts that were wood paneling. The foundation of the house was light and dark brown stones stacked ruggedly against each other. The large silver knocker stood out substantially on the dark mahogany door and was placed at the top, which was going to be an issue for the short child. She stared in awe at the garden in front, the flowers all beautifully chosen and placed. It was actually rather on the small size, which she liked; if the house was small, it meant that the family wasn't invested in money, and typically weren't obnoxious and stuck-up.

"Now scram, kid," Roger hustled Brielle out of the bus and grabbed her luggage, giving her the same send off as always. With an insulting tone but a tiny smile on his face, the grumpy old ghost bit the toothpick and handed her the bag she packed at Continental of her few belongings. He attempted to give her a nudge on the shoulder but, as always, his hand went right through her. She wondered how he could carry luggage without it falling, but still not be able to touch a person. She shrugged off the question as the bus pulled away, Roger wishing her good luck from the megaphone as she walked up to the door slowly.

She stuck the older wand into her boot again as she dropped her bag on the ground, having to stand on her tiptoes to reach the knocker and use two hands for balance. Once she finally reached it, she knocked as loudly as possible with the awkward positioning.

A second later, a young man with black curly hair over his forehead answered the door. He had shocking gray eyes, much like Brielle's. His, however, were more light and brilliant, while the girl's were duller and darker. Plus, hers hid behind thick-framed glasses. She was surprised his eyes somewhat matched hers, since gray wasn't exactly a common color. He was rather tall and fit. His face appeared more mature than she assumed he actually was from of his stature, which confused Brielle; she couldn't decide if this was the father or son, or neither. She assumed it wasn't the father, since his son had already graduated college and this man was not old enough to have a son that age; his face was _mature_, not _old_.

"Hello," the boy greeted her with a small, awkward smile and got onto one knee. Brielle was rather short for her age, which was odd because she was told her parents were both quite tall, like this new person was. "You must be Brielle. I'm Evan." The man stuck a large hand out for her to shake, which she did warily.

"Yes, I'm Brielle...Hawkins..." she added her last name slowly but didn't know why. It wasn't like she was going to be referred to by her last name for the short time she lived as a Madrack. They were just a _foster _home, anyways. They didn't adopt her. They probably_ wouldn't_, either.

"Well, Brielle _Hawkins_," Evan said, keeping the kind but stiff smile on his face. This showed the deep dimples inlaid in his cheeks. She was surprised they were so deep considering his smile was so humble, "Come on in, I'll show you around."

Evan took the young, bespectacled girl on a tour of the house, starting on the first floor. The home was much larger on the inside than it appeared when she had stood out front, which was a little upsetting. She'd hoped they'd be a little less... Well, she didn't want them to be this rich. But maybe it wasn't money; there was _definitely _some major magic going on inside the house. Small appearance, bigger actuality. Some of this stuff could be the result of magic, right?

They had a parlor, two bathrooms, a powder room - which apparently is different than a bathroom - a very large kitchen, plus a bedroom that he identified as his own. "Technically, it's the guest room," he explained as he opened the door to a made bed but a messy desk filled with papers, "but I still live here some nights during the school year, usually when we're on holiday breaks, so I took hold of it again. I'm a Potions professor, by the way." She wanted to say that she already knew that, but it may seem a little creepy to _already know_.

He then showed Brielle the backyard, which contained "plenty of room to fly", in Evan's words. They apparently had two brooms; one that they kept in a glass case and only used in school for flying and training - which was the family broom from generations before Evan - and another that he couldn't reveal the location of. He said that Joseph and Larissa weren't big fans of flying, but they kept a single broom that had never been used somewhere in the house. He didn't know where… or so he claimed.

"You know," he whispered to Brielle as she admired the family broom, "as long as our parents aren't home, I'll show you how to fly." The handle had a sleek, gray finish with a neat black design on it, something she admired the work of. Simple, yet mesmerizing. The bottom whiskers of the broom were black with small strands of silver and brown mixed in. The end of the handle once had something written on it, and Brielle could just make out the letters - which were probably black at some point, based on the slight stain on the wood. It read _Glover 200_. Brielle looked up at Evan with a beaming smile on her face, not fully realizing that he'd said _our parents_. All she could think about was this broom. The other houses hadn't typically kept one, and, even when they did, she wasn't permitted to fly it.

"Really?" She asked anxiously, looking back at their reflection in the clean glass casing. She was a bit wary of him, though he seemed older-brother-y and genuine in everything he said or did, as if he never did anything without some sort of true purpose.

"Of course," Evan responded and stood back upright. He ruffled his hair a bit. "Before any of that, though, let's get you settled into your room."

Brielle followed the young man up the stairs. He had taken her bag, though she had said she could handle a few steps. There turned out to be more than she'd thought, so she was rather glad she'd let him carry it. "Ma and Dad usually stay at work until five or six at night," he said as they reached the top of the staircase, "So you'll be home with me most days, if I'm not at school. If I am, you may be alone… The neighbors have a Muggle son your age, nice boy really. He may be around." Evan showed her down the hall, pointing out Joseph and Larissa's bedroom at the top of the staircase and the bathroom that Brielle would have to herself that was just a few steps away from her room. She stepped through the door of her new bedroom and stared in awe.

"No," she gawked with a huge smile plastered on her face. Brielle couldn't believe it, even though she was standing in the doorway of it. Her own room, all to herself. She looked around, and the walls were painted a light blue. It was a perfect shade to go with the plain black and white sheets on the bed. Two plush pillows rested against the headboard, and in front of them was a small cat stuffed animal.

Next to the bed, there was a leatherback journal on a nightstand with a matching leather tie and a nice pen on top, plus a lamp to add to the lights on the ceiling. She assumed it was for the purpose of late night writing, the lamp for late night anything, really. Brielle turned to the closet, where two articles of clothing were already hung neatly on their own, without hangers or anything. She pointed to the two robes sitting side by side as Evan flicked his wand at Brielle's bag and closed his eyes, making the clothes fly out and put themselves away. She smiled at the fact that he closed his eyes to avoid seeing anything…personal…despite her only being eight. Some clothes hung themselves up as others folded into the chest of drawers that she noticed was a physical part of the closet. She didn't have much, but it was enough to make the closet seem _somewhat _full.

"What are those?" she asked, still pointing at the robes. "I'm only eight, and not family…I shouldn't have school robes, right?"

"Right," Evan responded and rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably, "Not yet, at least." He took one robe down, which had the Muggle symbol for theatre printed on the inside. It was a deep burgundy color around the picture, with the crest acting as a nice white and yellow accent to the robe. He slung it around his shoulders, and Brielle was no longer looking at a tall, curly haired man, but a small, nimble girl with dark auburn hair and glasses. She jumped back as the other Brielle smirked and laughed a little.

"It's a shape shifting robe," Evan explained in a little, Irish voice. Did she truly sound like that? "Just think of who you want to become as you put it on." He removed the large robe and handed it to Brielle, returning to his original form. She shut her eyes and thought of the first person that came to mind.

Brielle covered her head and shoulders with the robe and opened one eye. She looked down, but her hands were the same pale color as before and she could still feel her loose braid tickling the back of her neck.

"I don't think it - " she began, but her voice came out a little deeper with an American accent. She gave a smile and glared at the full body mirror but did not see herself staring back. Instead, there was a boy about her normal height with light, sandy hair, his eyes a deep blue and freckles scattered on his face. She smiled at the reflection of her best friend from Continental, Connor. She felt a pang of jealousy and hurt in her stomach, knowing that she'd probably never see his face again, as he was formally adopted a long time ago. It was possible that she'd see him once more, yet not for a long time, not until they went to school. Not until she herself was adopted and allowed the use of an owl. She knew he lived in Ireland still, so he probably wasn't far from here. Her best chance was school, though; maybe they'd both eventually be sent to the same place for an education, that would be phenomenal. Though he was a year older than she, Connor would be there while she was. Maybe they'd even be in the same house. It was unlikely, but possible. He couldn't have gone far from here...

Brielle unwrapped herself and handed the robe back to Evan, throwing the thoughts aside. He hung it up without question of who the boy was, probably from the upset look she had plastered on her face, then took the other down. It was the same size as the former robe, but that's where the similarities stopped. It was a cloak rather than a robe, and the pattern on it was quite different. It was a silvery gray color with a navy blue shield on the front, as one would find with a suit of armor. Evan draped it around Brielle's shoulders, and she looked to the mirror. The cloak shimmered and disappeared, but other than that, nothing happened appearance-wise.

"Now," he said and drew his wand. Brielle's hand went instinctively to her boot, though the wand was ineffective. "Whoa," Evan shouted with his hands up as she pulled the wand and pointed it at him, a stern expression covering her face, "I'm just showing you what the cloak does." The girl slowly lowered her wand to her side, and then stuffed it into her boot once more. He let out the breath he'd been holding, and flicked his wrist quickly. "_Stupefy_!" he commanded, and a shot of light came surging at Brielle. She held her arms in front of her face in fear, but she felt nothing other than a slight buzzing sensation around her body, where the cloak laid. After the light and the buzz was gone, she lowered her arms to a smiling Evan.

"See?" he asked and grabbed the cloak from her shoulders, hanging it back up in the closet. The smile stayed on his face as he spoke, "It's a protective cloak, so you don't get hurt in a duel. It's illegal in a _formal _duel, of course, but at school, students use them all the time for lessons, if they have one to use."

"Where exactly do you teach?" Brielle questioned as she took her remaining possessions out of her bag. She wondered why she'd been given a bag this large if she had only a few things that were her own. She removed a picture of her with Connor when they were kids that showed him slinging his arm around her shoulder and her smiling with two lost front teeth, then them looking at each other and him taking his arm down. She could remember the exact moment they took that picture… She also took out a book that one of the girls at Continental had given her before she left as well as a blanket, which she assumed she wouldn't need since the comforter on the bed appeared rather cozy.

"Oh, pardon, I haven't told you," Evan said with a strained tone, hidden by a triumphant smile. He seemed rather fond and proud of his job but also looked like he didn't want to brag about it, "I teach Potions at the Aboriginal School of Indigenous Magic, my alma mater. Soon to be your school, too, in three short years."

Brielle almost dropped her alarm clock. "Wait, I'm going to school… With you?"

"Is...that a problem?" he asked slowly as his brow furrowed. He sat on a chair by the desk that Brielle hadn't noticed was there until now.

"No, it's just…" she could have trailed off about how she might actually stay here for _three years. _But she decided not to bore him with that and cut straight to the chase: to send her to school, the family first had to adopt her. "You're going to adopt me?"

"Well, of course!" Evan beamed with joy as his worried expression became a larger smile than it had been all morning, "Why wouldn't we?"

She explained how every family that has housed her for the past three years was temporary, and she expected this house to be the same way. "Blimey, who would 'return' you?" he questioned in a genuinely confused state, "You've been a delight...so far, at least." He gave a small laugh as Brielle launched into a story of one of her former foster homes, one that strung her along for five months or so saying they'd adopt her and then just flipped her like a pancake.

"Well, that's a bit pank, don't you think?" he cursed as he ran a hand through his curly hair and suggested they have lunch, "I promise, we won't be like that. We also won't make you do chores, any more than I used to do, anyways." As they walked down the stairs, they remained silent. Brielle checked the wall clock and saw that the time was 1:30 in the afternoon; she'd been here for three hours already and she loved the house as well as Evan; she just hoped that Larissa and Joseph were the same way.

"Oh," said Evan after a slight buzzing sound. He looked down at his wrist, where a watch was strapped. Or, at least, what seemed to be a watch. He touched the glass a few times and looked up at the young girl across from him. "Well, Ma won't be home until late tonight. Dad's coming at 10:00, as well… So I guess it's just us for the day." He glanced over at the broom in the casing by the backyard, then back at Brielle. "You want to fly for a bit?"

Oh, yeah. Brielle knew she was going to love it here.


	2. And Off to School We Go

**Chapter 2**

**A/N: Howdy Hody Doober! Alright so this is chapter 2, and again, it's a long one. I hope you like it so far, and the next chapters to come, and the last chapter(s) that I've posted. Again, shoutout to T and R for editing for me, without you two, I don't think I'd be as far as I am! Thank you both so much! (I feel like I'm accepting a Grammy or something)**

**~J**

The Headmistress always seemed to find herself on top of trunks, though Brielle wasn't sure who in their right mind would allow someone to stand on their luggage like that. There could be valuable things in there, after all. Then again, she _was _the one who ran the school, so she probably got her way quite often.

"Welcome to the Main Hall," her voice boomed over the crowd, which fell silent automatically, "Line up by house with your Head, and then separate yourselves by year within the line. Heads, lead your houses to your corresponding Lumé. I would like all Prefects to meet with Professor Madrack and myself immediately to discuss your duties before retreating to your housemates. First years…" she examined the room with a comfortably annoyed look on her face, "Group with each other again until the older students sort themselves."

Brielle watched the hustle and bustle of the students as they grouped themselves by house, each line separated by color of tie and lined up in front of a different professor. She guessed that each house had a certain _professor,_ not student, who acted as the Head of Household. Those with the purple and green ties were mostly males, with the occasional girl mixed in; Drakonas. She wanted to be there, in the line with the athletes, more than anything.

But Connor was in Voras, and she _did _wish to be housed with him. He was the best connection to her childhood, and she wasn't ready to let that go. Then again, if they weren't housed together, maybe they'd still be able to be friends. To her understanding, the classes were grouped by year, so first and second years were together, then third through seventh years had their own classes after that. They'd be in some of the same classes for this year, at the very least.

She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a deep, almost terrifying voice over her shoulder. "Let's move, miss," Brielle's hands began to shake at the intimidating voice as she glanced behind her nervously, but saw a familiar face glaring back. She let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding as she rolled her eyes at her new friend. Brielle shoved his arm, and he grasped it and let out a pretend hiss of pain as she walked away.

He stepped quickly after her. "Is this what I can expect now that we're partners?" TJ questioned, trying to catch up as Brielle walked towards the larger group of first years who looked lost. Although he was as tall, his legs weren't as long as her own, so she could outstep him easily. She spun around and began to walk backwards.

"And when exactly did I say we're partners?" she shot back with a small smile. His hands flew up in the air in fake-surrender and smiled the sideways grin again.

"And she speaks," he announced, "Ladies and gentleman, she has a voice!" Brielle rushed up to him and covered his mouth, but he kept yelling. What he was saying, though, was muffled, so it was alright. When he finally stopped shouting, he pushed her hand away and began to laugh. She followed him into the seemingly endless crowd of white ties with a laugh of her own as the last of the older kids filed into their lines. One kid near the middle of the crowd was speaking cockily about his "knowledge of Aboriginal" and how "it really wasn't all that special".

"_Not all that special_?" Cameron challenged him as Brielle and TJ joined her.

"Yeah," he shot back with an attitude. His hair was cut short over his head and his skin was pale and sickly. He was a tad bit overweight for an eleven year old, though he was average height, and he smelt oddly of sausages. "I've seen places loads more impressive than this piece of trash. Not like the sorry shop your father owns, Ramos - "

"Hey, watch it Cooper," TJ cut in, "Mr. Ramos sells _the _best brooms in the world."

"Oi, Carmen, you've got your boyfriend fighting your battles now?" the kid, Cooper, as TJ had called him, said snobbishly. He stepped forward and came nose to nose - or nose to _chin _- with Cameron.

"It's Cameron," she growled. They stood that way for a while, and Cooper seemed to gain a small posse behind him the longer they stood there.

"He smells like meat," Brielle whispered to TJ, and there were a few sneers from the crowd, including the two boys who seemed like they were his main sidekicks. The kid stopped and glared at Brielle.

"And _who _are _you_?" he rumbled and approached Brielle. "Wait, you're the Hawkins girl." She nodded smally, but didn't back down, despite her anxiety. Cooper smiled crudely, "I'm Zach Cooper. It's a pleasure."

"I wish I could say the same to you," Brielle cocked her head to the side while the crowd gave an _oooh_. He snarled and backed off.

"Whatever. You'd better watch yourself. Don't want to align with the wrong people." He turned on his heel and walked to the other side of the group. A few eyes were on Brielle, and some whispers were flying, but she was too happy that she hadn't backed down to care. TJ congratulated her as people began to go back to their own business.

"That was brilliant," he told her, "I didn't think you had that in you!" Brielle just shrugged and looked back at Cameron. She was staring around the giant room they were in.

Cameron gawked at the room, which Brielle had been too busy with her glasses and Zach Cooper and the Drakonas line to notice. "All this… Under the Muggles' feet and they don't even know it. And this is less than _half _of it all."

This must have been the Main Hall, Brielle assumed. Lighting the room, large and small orbs of heatless fire floated in the space above and around the students. She knew they were heatless because one bumped into Brielle's back and it didn't burn her at all. There were four large holes in the ground, each one sustained by stones inside and built into a ledge around the outside. In the middle of the holes sat rather thick logs, finishing the bonfire scenery. Hanging high over top of each bonfire swayed a banner with a different crest and color pattern, the same as the ties held. In the middle of the room hung a white banner with a black crest - the one the Headmistress had on her tie - and, underneath of it, four black bowls sat on four pedestals. One large gold bowl was in the middle of it all, and it was large enough that Brielle could fit comfortably inside, if she tried to. Which she wasn't going to do.

She looked back at the unlit campfires, as there wasn't much of another place to look, and Cameron spoke up, which made her flinch. Brielle had forgotten she and TJ were there. "Those are the Lumés for each house," she informed Brielle. Each one looked exactly the same, other than the banner flying over it.

All of the lines of students were finally in order and making their way to each Lumé. "Alright," a different voice, this one belonging to a man, shouted over the first years. Only some looked up at the man, who was very, very tall and very, very skinny. And hairy. He was very hairy; not just on his head but more so on his arms and face. If he was _something_, he seemed to be very much of it. The man - who Brielle assumed was a professor of sorts - clapped his hands and all of the first years fell silent, the rest of them looking straight up at him. Something about the way he said _alright_ made Brielle feel like she'd met him before, though she was certain she'd remember meeting a nine foot man.

He smiled an uncomfortable smile at the students and said, "I'm going to ask you to form a single file line, horizontal, facing the Center Ring." Each of the students looked at one another, confused, and Brielle suddenly realized that this was the voice TJ had spoken in to scare her before. She stared wide-eyed at the boy, who simply smirked without needing to look at her to know she was watching. She focused back on the professor.

"Gather 'round the bowls," he mumbled, and the first years did so, somehow managing to file into a neat semicircle around the scene. The professor let out a sigh as another voice echoed through the room.

"Forza, paz e sabedoría," the now familiar voice of the Headmistress boomed across the Main Hall, "Welcome once more, everyone, and an especially warm welcome to our newest class of first years." There was an eruption of applause across all four Lumés, and the Headmistress held her hands up, calming the cheers. "We will commence with the Housing Ceremony, as per tradition, after a few announcements and introductions, as I'm sure you're all eager to settle in."

The long and straight haired woman peered across the students and gave a small smile. "My name is Professor Abbey Lofaro. In case you haven't figured it out yet, first years, I am the Headmistress of the Aboriginal School of Indigenous Magic. I have been so for the past seven years, since I was 20 and fresh out of college, so I must be doing something right." She turned to the lineup of teachers across the back of the room and removed herself from the pedestal, walking among them. She paused in front of each, mentioning their name and the class they teached, club they ran, or house they headed. Brielle only paid attention to the heads of houses as well as Evan's introduction. She also kept her ears open for the Flying instructor and the Gamekeeper.

There was one especially infatuating introduction that Brielle noticed, mostly because the professor seemed to be a bird. No, not seemed; he _was _a bird. "Professor Wren Howe," Lofaro gestured to the feathered friend next to her, then looked at him and let out a sigh, probably realizing that he was a Macaw. "Seriously?" she asked it, and the bird held a wand in its foot. There was a squawk, and then a flash of light from the wand. A professor grew from the bird with a large smile on his face, which was underneath a short, shaggy blonde beard to go with his long, shaggy blonde hair. He was rather attractive, with a younger looking face and a fit physique, making Brielle wonder why _Evan_ was the one the girls chased. Why not Professor Howe?

"Sorry, Professor," he apologized with a northern American accent or something of the sorts.

The Headmistress continued with a roll of her eyes, "Wren Howe. Transfigurations professor and Head of Ara." The students with the blue and yellow ties cheered exceptionally loud, so Brielle thought it was safe to bet that they were members of the Ara house. "Also, newly stated head of music." The group cheered again, and the Headmistress was onto the next professor.

"Merlin, I'd best not be in Ara," TJ whispered, and he bumped into her arm. She raised an eyebrow as she turned her head to look at the boy. He leaned back and looked at her as she leaned back, too. He showed a single dimple as he smirked. "What? I'm not one for the whole theatrical crowd."

Brielle glared back at the group of blue and yellow tied students curiously and wondered if they were _all _talented in theatre. She certainly hoped not; she'd never been one for music, so listening to them sing and "perform" in the hallways wouldn't be the most enthralling thing that could happen.

After the Headmistress finished introducing all of the professors for this term, she returned to her place at the podium. For the first time all day, it seemed, she wasn't standing on someone's luggage. "Let's have a round of applause for our first years, everyone," Headmistress Lofaro clapped her hands slowly, and all of the houses and professors applauded in the same manner, making Brielle a bit uncomfortable. She glanced to the group of brown-tied students, who, from their intense clapping after the introduction of Professor Morrison, she realized were Voras. She looked for Connor, who was already staring back at the girl. Her face reddened as he gave her a quick wink, and she turned back to listen to the Headmistress as the clapping stopped.

"I know you're all eager to be housed, so let's begin," her hands folded together as the first years readjusted themselves, Brielle shifting from one foot to the other. She was so nervous; the next seven years of her life were based on this, the housing ceremony. "Professor Madrack, if you'd please."

The anxious first year tried to hide her wide smile as Evan stepped up to the pedestal. He cleared his throat, and a small group of the girls next to Brielle giggled and looked at each other. Some of the oldest girls who were already seated wiggled their eyebrows at each other while a lot of the guys sat back and rolled their eyes, like they were too cool for him. Brielle's smile faded instantly and was replaced by a look of disgust before Cameron nudged her with an elbow.

"You alright?" she whispered, and Brielle nodded reluctantly as her foster brother began speaking. She hated this stupid _all-the-girls-love-him _thing.

"Sorting is rather simple, though you should probably listen up so you know what to do when you're up. First, take your place in the middle urn and make sure your tie is on properly. None of this rebellious tie-draped-around-the-neck crap." He eyed Voras, and snickers and sneers came from the girls and boys of the house. "Once you've done that, you'll find four bowls around you filled with Vanduo, each the color of one house. There will be a cup above each bowl of it. Dip the cup into the bowl and take a quick swig of each. Try not to take breaks in between, or else it'll make it worse. Any questions?"

Cameron's hand shot straight up in the air, though it seemed pretty straightforward to Brielle. Evan smiled and pointed to her. She began to speak loudly and clearly, so the entire room could hear her. "What do you mean it'll 'make it worse'?"

Evan gave a small, sly smirk and simply said, "You'll see."

Headmistress Lofaro stepped back to the podium and grabbed a piece of parchment that Brielle hadn't noticed before. Her wand turned into a quill as she lifted the parchment closer to her face. She looked to Evan, who smiled, and handed him the scroll and quill. He stood a few feet behind the bowls and announced, "First, Hunter Boyle."

A rather short, thin boy from the middle of the line made his way nervously to the Center Ring, all eyes on him. He anxiously stepped over the edge of the largest brass bowl in the middle, and four small cups appeared as promised, floating above the Vanduo. He looked around at the four colored liquids and went for the gray one first. Brielle guessed that he wished to be housed with the gray and orange ties if he began there. He took a large gulp of the liquid, but dropped the cup on the ground immediately and began to cough. He was reminded by the Headmistress to continue, and he quickly took a small drink of the other three liquids. The boy coughed for quite a while, and Brielle suddenly knew what Evan meant by _worse._

After his coughing fit, Hunter Boyle's face turned a deep shade of red, beginning at his forehead and making it's way down to his cheeks, then his chin and neck. The white tie that lied loosely around his shirt tightened a bit, then flicked rather violently - Brielle thought she saw it hit him in the face. When it fell back to settle on his chest, it faded into the clean gray and orange pattern as the others from the house wore. He took a huge, deep breath and let out a shriek that made everyone cover their ears; it was terrifying. Like a fox. His hands slammed over his mouth and, eyes wide, looked at his tie. He dropped his hands and smiled triumphantly.

The entire house of gray ties stood from their benches as Evan shouted, "Hunter Boyle, Raposo!" The house erupted into cheers and hollers as the boy retreated from the urn and was escorted to his house's Lumé by the head of Raposo, Professor Yule. Hunter was greeted with handshakes and a few pats on the back as he took his place among his housemates.

"Next," the Evan continued once Hunter was seated and Raposo had settled down a bit, "Tyler Jaspar Barry." TJ bounced on the balls of his feet as Cameron whispered good luck. He strutted up to the urn cooly and hopped over with ease, swinging both feet in the air at once, and Brielle rolled her eyes at his overconfidence. She did, however, find it interesting that when he was inside the urn, his face paled and he looked around nervously, but he somehow managed to keep a small smile on his face. Obviously, he thought this was the most imperative moment for the next seven years, like Brielle did.

Then something strange happened, something Brielle didn't quite understand. TJ's eyes locked on hers, and he looked…scared. Regardless of the fact that they'd just met, she didn't think that there was anything that could scare him. She gave him a small smile and a nod of encouragement, and he gave a small nod back, looking somewhat calmer.

"Any time now, Mr. Barry," Headmistress Lofaro rushed him impatiently, and he apologized. He grabbed one of the cups and dipped it into the Vanduo. He let out a deep breath as he swallowed the brown liquid, then made his way to the other three quickly. His tie began to shake, and he squatted, elbows on his knees. He was obviously trying not to let out a noise or to cough like Hunter had. But the unavoidable did happen, and he began to cough louder than the other boy. He stood upright and tried to cover his mouth, but his tie flickered quickly and blocked his arm, smacking TJ in the face a few times, too. His hand went to his forehead rather than his mouth, and the tie began to fade into a deep purple and green.

He smiled at his tie, and then threw his head back and let out a roar like a lion mixed with some sort of monster; like a Dragon.

"Tyler Barry," Evan declared triumphantly, "Drakonas." The entire house erupted into applause and cheers as TJ took a glance at Brielle and Cameron. The blonde gave him a thumbs up, and Brielle let out a smile and a few claps. She was happy that TJ had been housed in Drakonas; he was a friend, now, and he looked happy about it, so why wouldn't she be, as well? This also intensified her desire to become a Drakonas. Now, she knew someone in the house.

A few other students took their turns; Benji Graves ended up in Raposo, Cora Mink in Voras, and the twins Thalia and Kylie Jenkins went to Ara. That Zach Cooper was also sorted into Voras, which wasn't a shock. She did have to say, she had fun seeing him cough and choke a bit. He truly did deserve it for being such a jerk.

Evan moved his finger down the parchment to Zach's name and crossed him off, then read the next name from the scroll. He cleared his throat, and the line of first years moved together to close the holes that had been made by the already housed.

"Brielle Hawkins."

Her eyes widened as she realized that she'd just been called. Brielle stood still as a statue and looked at Evan, who raised an eyebrow. She looked at the group of Voras that grew by two so far, and Connor glared at her devilishly. He gave her a small smile and a wink. Her eyes then drifted to Zach Cooper, and he crossed his arms expectantly. She could almost smell the sausage.

"Go, kid," Cameron whispered and gave her a little shove. Before she knew it, her feet were slugging across the floor and towards the urn. She stepped over cautiously, and the four cups appeared over top of the bowls of Vanduo. She looked around at the crowd of students who were anxiously watching, and her eyes locked with TJ's at the Drakonas Lumé. He gave her a small nod, and she returned it - just as they had when_ he _was about to drink the liquid. Now their roles were reversed, and she was more nervous than ever. Cameron gave her a smile and a reassuring look, which she appreciated.

Brielle glared at the four bowls and took the cup over the blue liquid symbolizing Ara, as it seemed the least strange of all four. The cup was light in her hand, and she brought it to her lips slowly. Her plan was to swallow it like she'd seen Larissa do with alcohol late at night - one at a time, she would throw the liquid back quickly until all four were down. She counted in her head as she smelled the sweet scent of what seemed like fruit coming from the Ara Vanduo.

_One, two…_

Evan looked at her with wide eyes, rushing her a little bit, and she nodded.

_Three._

The liquid went back like fire, burning her esophagus as it slithered down her throat. Her body heated up and her lungs began to empty. It was difficult to breathe, but she went for the brown liquid next, shooting that one back but almost coughing it back up due to the even fouler taste. Brielle doubled over as she choked down the third, purple liquid. This is the one she wanted to work, the one she _needed _to work. She couldn't breathe and her legs buckled, making her fall to one knee, then two. She slammed her hand on the side of the urn and pressed herself back up, grabbing the last cup from the air. She dipped it into the Vanduo shakily and gulped it down. The coughing was a more intense pain than she'd ever felt in her lungs before, but after the fourth liquid was settled in her stomach, it diminished a bit. The burning went from her lungs to her gut, then a warm buzz began to flow through her body and arranged itself around her neck, where the tie laid. She looked down as the tie flew back and forth in a circle, like a helicopter almost.

The tie was tightened instantly around her neck, choking her a bit, as she watched it change color. It began darkening into an almost gray color, and Brielle began to get nervous until it shifted into a light brown, like it was trying to decide between Raposo and Voras. She shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut tight, thinking _Drakonas, Drakonas, Drakonas… _she opened them to her now settled down tie and saw that it had changed into a deep violet.

A smile snuck to her face as the green edges and crest began to form on the fabric. She looked up and felt a lump in her stomach, though she didn't know why, as this was exactly what she wanted. It built up and churned in her chest, then began to move up towards her throat, traveled through her esophagus and to the back of her mouth. She tried to swallow it down, but before she knew it she let out a blood-curdling roar. The lump was still there, though, even after the roar.

She heard Evan's muffled voice begin to announce her house behind the buzzing in her ears, but she began to cough again, once, twice, and on the third time, heat seared in the inside of her mouth. A large burst of heat shot across her lips, creating a fireball in the air around her head. The entire student body sounded with a large yell of fear as the fire died down. Brielle's eyes widened, as did most of the faculty's, as whispers began to fly around the room, some pointing, others giving strange glares.

"Brielle Hawkins," Evan's face was paled and his eyes far off as he choked the words out, "Drakonas." Even he was confused, fearful almost. There was silence following it, and she hopped out of the urn slowly, her foot catching on the edge. She crashed to the floor embarrassingly, but stood back up quickly and hoped no one had really noticed.

"Yeah," TJ cheered and gave a few claps. He let out a whoop as he cheered for his new housemate, "Yeah, Brielle!"

A few claps accompanied his, most from Drakonas, and one or two of the others from unplaced first years, like Cameron. Evan was among those who applauded. Brielle's face reddened severely as she sat down next to TJ, where fellow students had made a spot for her, and the Headmistress began to clap. All of the other students followed in her footsteps, clapping for Brielle slowly. She shrank into her seat as TJ's hand patted her leg. She flinched, not expecting it, but she relaxed and looked up at her newfound friend. He gave her a small nod and smile through a paled face. Her housemates didn't hide their stares, and Brielle could feel their eyes on her cheeks. But, as she looked around at everyone, some eyes flickered back to the urn while the rest couldn't look away from the girl.

It looked like TJ and Cameron would be her only friends here.

Headmistress Lofaro cleared her throat and Evan flicked the parchment, crossing Brielle's name off with his quill. His face seemed unaffected by Brielle's sudden outburst, other than the slight shake in her hand when she crossed her name out. Evan continued down the list.

"Cameron Ramos."

A boy sitting across the Drakonas Lumé sat on the edge of his seat as Cameron strode to the urn. She, too, seemed nervous, especially after Brielle's performance. Brielle watched the boy on the other side of the unlit Lumé with his hands clenched so tight around one another that his knuckles were white and his hands trembling.

"That's Jesse," TJ whispered, following her gaze to the anxious student. She recognized the boy on the other side as the one who'd first stood up to shake TJ's hand when he was housed. "Second year, Cameron's brother." Jesse had bright green eyes, much like his sister's, but that's where their resemblance ended. His skin was tan and his hair was dark brown and spiked over his head, the opposite of Cameron's. He also seemed of average height for his age - though it was hard to tell because he was sitting - whereas Cameron was very short. She was just tall enough to peek over the side of the large urn, let alone to get into it.

It took her a while to find a way in since her legs were so tiny, but when one of the professors brought over a stool, she hopped in right away. Her blonde braid was balanced in the middle of her back as the four little cups appeared in mid-air once more. She picked one out and examined it, then set it back where it was. When she seemed satisfied with the result that it hovered again, she filled one up with the gray Vanduo, placing it back in the air. It bobbed a bit, but stayed suspended. She did the same for the remaining three liquids, then went back around and collected them so she held two in each hand.

She bounced on the balls of her feet, poising her right hand under her lip so she was able to drink from both cups, then shot back each handful quickly. She began to cough immediately after she swallowed them, her face turning brighter red than Brielle's did when she was embarrassed by the fireball. The tie began to vibrate in the air, following the protocol as all the other ties had. She glanced down as the tie faded into a deep brown, shocking TJ and Brielle and, obviously, Cameron. Her face went slack as a bright red border and crest began to appear on the fabric, and she looked like she was about to cry. She looked up to TJ and Brielle, then over to her brother.

"Cameron Ramos," Evan announced, "Voras." The group of brown tied students stood up and cheered as the professor put the stool on the inside of the urn for the girl, but she stood still as a statue. The professor told her to join her house, so her feet stomped up the stairs like stones and she hopped over. She tried to have a smile on her face as she made her way over. Brielle's eyes followed her acquaintance to the Voras campsite, and she looked back to see Connor sticking his wand back into his jacket.

Clearly, she wasn't the only one who saw him.

There was a loud noise accompanying a fast movement in the corner of Brielle's eye, and Jesse brushed past her shoulder and moved quickly towards Voras.

"You," he screamed as he approached Connor, who was congratulating Cameron on her housing. Connor's dull blue eyes moved to the enraged brother, and they widened immediately when the he pulled his wand.

"Mister Ramos," Headmistress Lofaro warned, but to no effect; he didn't stop. He marched right up to Connor and jabbed his wand under the boy's chin, pressing him into the wall. Connor smirked and stared back at Jesse.

"Did what?" he impishly asked, as if he was a child.

"Don't play victim. You did that," Jesse growled, "didn't you? You made her Voras, you little - "

"_Mister Ramos_," the Headmistress repeated, this time in a more stern and demanding voice. Jesse stopped and angrily looked up at the professor, who stood fiercely at the podium. He looked back at the kid in front of him, then back to the Headmistress. He lowered his wand, moving his eyes back to Connor. The wand was slipped back into his inside blazer pocket, and he shoved the other second year against the wall.

He backed off and turned to his sister, whose eyes were widened with fear. Cameron had seemed so confident before, but Brielle assumed she'd never seen Jesse lash out like that. He walked up to her and whispered something in his sister's ear, and she nodded in response. Jesse glared back at Connor, then made his way over to the Drakonas camp. He plopped down in his seat as Connor straightened out his still untucked shirt and loose tie, then returned to his seat, too. Cameron sat on the opposing side as the sandy-haired boy, probably per Jesse's wish.

For the rest of sorting, the room was silent other than the coughing of the first years and the cheers of the houses when a new student joined them, though they were less festive than before. And between Brielle's searing introduction and Jesse and Connor's disbuttle, who could blame them for being a little grumpy?

"Mitchell Love," Evan announced the last name as the chubby first year made his way to his new house, "Raposo." The boy was even bigger than meaty-smelling Zach Cooper, and he hobbled to his area as the Evan rolled the parchment. It disappeared the moment it was rolled completely.

"Alright," Headmistress Lofaro declared in her booming voice, as it always seems to be, "Prefects, please rise." Four of the older students from each house, most likely sixth and seventh years, rose from their seats. "First years, Prefects are the equivalency to a hall monitor during your time at Aboriginal. They are sixth or seventh year students who, on your first day, will show you around the school. The first week of class, they will be roaming the halls during and between classes to help you find your way. After the first week, they are solely for the purpose of monitoring misconduct in the hallways and late night stragglers. While some will still guide you to class upon request, they will no longer be in the halls during class periods and will be required to arrive on time to their own classes. Do not expect them to be late to their class in order to help you reach yours.

"The four Prefects from each house will now show you all to your respective common rooms. After each of you is settled and in uniform, they will lead you through the corridors and back here, where we will be holding an official Banquet for the kickoff of the school year. Second through seventh years who aren't Prefects are to go to their common rooms until it's time for the Banquet." The Headmistress paused and looked around at the campsites warily, pausing at each house's Lumé. She stopped for a particularly long time when she looked at Drakonas, pinpointing Jesse.

"I expect full cooperation with your house. There will be no fraternizing with other houses during or while waiting for the Banquet." She glared right at Jesse, whose knee was bouncing rapidly and eyes were glaring at the ground. He was clearly still angry and probably knew that she was looking right at him. When he realized she'd stopped talking, his head tilted up, but he wasn't looking at the professor; he was looking at Brielle. Her eyes lingered longer than they should have, but his green orbs locked on her gray ones. Jesse raised an eyebrow at her with a bit of an attitude and mouthed the word "what", and her face reddened as she turned her attention back to the Headmistress.

_Why did you want to be in Drakonas? _Brielle asked herself as she went to tune back into Headmistress Lofaro's speech, but the stern professor was still glaring at the Lumés, this time at Connor. She took a deep breath as she wrapped up her spiel, "Go on, now."

As the houses stood up and the Prefects began to split the first years up into groups, the second through seventh years picked up their things and moved out the door slowly. Old friends were catching up with each other, filling the hall with chatter. Brielle sat still next to TJ. She didn't want to move, didn't want to make another unintentional mistake like the fire. TJ stood up and smiled down at her.

"Let's go then," TJ cheerfully said. He looked down at her with a frown, probably remembering her anxiety, "Let's try and get a group together." He offered her a hand, which she ignored as she stood to match his height. He frowned again as other students began to swarm around them in all directions, "Brielle, I know the fire thing was… unexpected, to say the least… but this'll be fun, promise."

She raised an eyebrow, knowing it wouldn't be fun for _her_, and looked over his shoulder. Her gray eyes shot open as she saw the Headmistress approaching Drakonas. TJ turned and saw her coming, too, and he whipped back around quickly. Brielle kept her eyes locked on the professor as she pushed through the crowd gracefully and reached Jesse, who hadn't stood up from the other side of the unlit Lumé yet. She put a hand on his shoulder and he looked up sadly, probably knowing what was coming.

The Headmistress spotted Connor across the room as well, and she took Jesse with her to get him. Once they were together, they began to leave the room, until Headmistress Lofaro turned on her heel. She stared back at the Main Hall for a few minutes and Brielle got anxious, but then she turned and took the second years out. Brielle presumed that the professor was taking them to her office, though she couldn't be certain.

"He's really not a bad guy. Just protective is all," said TJ as he followed Brielle's gaze to the door. She nodded her head nonchalantly; she didn't feel like talking right now, not that she ever did anyways. She wondered if the Headmistress was going to talk to her at all about the fireball. She surely would like to know more about it and why it happened to _her_, of all people.

"Alright," four older student stood on the Lumé's stone walls, snapping Brielle out of her thoughts. The one drawing the attention to himself was very short, but built like an athlete. His arms were ripped with strength, as were all of the Drakonas Prefects' arms, but his were by far the strongest. The boy talking had bright red hair - more like orange than anything - and paled skin with a few freckles scattered across his nose and cheeks. He looked like a stereotypical Irishman, but he had an American accent. It made Brielle wonder what he was doing in Europe for school. "Here's what's going to happen. There's about thirty-six of you - " he stopped and counted quickly again, "Exactly thirty-six. It's kind of tough to keep track of all of you, so you'll split into groups. There will be four groups of nine. I'll take a group," he motioned to the two boys and one girl standing next to him, "and they will each take a group. Assemble into nines, and we'll introduce ourselves once that's done."

The first years looked around at each other and molded themselves into small groups. TJ, Brielle, and seven other boys stood in a small circle as they waited for the Prefects to join them. Most of the students were boys; there were only four first year girls throughout all 36 new Drakonas; one was in each group of nine. Brielle was somewhat happy she had a house with mostly boys, just because they didn't have any drama like girls did, and even the girls here wouldn't have much drama since they were in the athletic house, anyways. Though she _would _miss Cameron. They hadn't even known each other for very long, but she thought they would have been good friends. It also seemed like TJ and Cameron were good friends, so she wanted Cameron there for _him _at the very least.

As TJ began making friends, which he seemed to be good at doing, Brielle glanced around the room as they waited, admiring the feel to it. There was this an outdoorsy look and sense to it that she loved, as if they were actually at a campsite. The walls were lined with pillars and large clear windows connected them so she could see straight through to the outdoors. Outside was a large forest with all different types of trees, many of which Brielle had never seen before. To the right of the Hall, she saw the other two bonfires, holding the Ara and Raposo first years. She noticed that as students filed out, the fires shrank until they were slightly larger than a normal pit. She assumed that the more people who came from each house, the larger the bonfire grew to accommodate them all. Behind the pits, the walls were the same layout, however this side had a large lake running towards it. The sun glistened on the water beautifully, and she realized that the lake was flowing right through the bottom of the school. She wondered how that was possible, but no matter. When she looked up, there was no ceiling. Clouds floated rapidly through the perfectly blue sky, changing shape so they looked like the animals of each house.

The fiery-haired boy cleared his throat loudly, and all of the students stopped what they were doing to look at him. He gave a smirk at the power he had over the young kids and announced with a clear voice, "My name is Marcos Dayton. I'm a seventh year, the captain and Seeker for the Drakonas Quidditch team. I've been a Prefect for three years now, since before we didn't have to be seventh-years. My entire family has been housed in Drakonas, along with my brother Mickey, who is a fourth year now."

He looked at the fellow Prefect to his left. The next boy was about a foot taller than Marcos, though that made him average height, and his eyes were black. Just black. They didn't have any color around the pupils, which Brielle found odd. His hair was very nice, though; it was dark brown and spiked in the front a little bit. "I'm Shaun Farlowe. I am currently a sixth year Beater on the Quidditch team and the first of my family to be sorted into Drakonas, as the rest were and are placed in Ara." There were a few snickers among one of the groups. Shaun's eyes darted over in their direction, and the laughs stopped immediately when the once black space turned a bright green color, much brighter than Jesse's eyes. Shaun's were glowing like a firefly almost. He was about to say something until the next Prefect interrupted.

"Gemma Wilkins," the girl said quickly and sharply, placing a small hand around Shaun's wrist. He stopped and gritted his teeth as his eyes faded back to black. He seemed to calm down at her touch. Gemma seemed happy to be there, a bright smile on her face even when Shaun almost lashed out. Her dark brown - practically black - hair was parted down the middle with a messy bun at the base. She wore a thick black headband to match the black uniform sweater and blazer she wore. "Sixth year. One of two sixth year Prefects this year, since, as Marcos said, they're supposed to be all seventh-years. I was an anomaly due to my exceptional knowledge of Aboriginal." She looked over the first years proudly, as if waiting for some sort of reaction, but didn't receive one. Brielle noticed she had a very slight slur when she spoke her "s". She cleared her throat and continued, "Also, the first of my family to be a Drakonas, since I'm the only one who's attended school here. The rest went to Hogwarts, but when we moved to Wexford I came here. I'm the assistant captain on the Quidditch team and a Chaser. I run the tutoring sessions in the Reference Center due to my photographic memory. I also help with training in the Fitness Room after class hours - "

"Yeah, cool, Gem," the seemingly impatient boy to her right rolled his eyes jokingly as he faked a yawn. She elbowed him in the side, and he laughed, showing his insanely white teeth. The seventh year had spiked brown hair that came to a point in the middle. "Okay," he clapped, "I'm Grey Torres...um," he clapped again, "Some things about me...I'm a seventh year, I have ADHD, and no matter what I say now, it won't compare to the layout Gemma and the others just gave you... so I'm about done here." Grey leaned forward and smiled at Marcos, whose fingers were pinching his forehead.

"Every time," he muttered as he hopped off of the stone, standing in front of Brielle's group. Marcos was hardly taller than her, which was odd because he was 17 and she was 11. He cracked his back as the other Prefects followed his lead, leaving the height of the stones and standing by their respective groups. "These are your squads. If we think someone went missing or got lost along the way, we'll be able to count within squads now. I don't know, it doesn't make sense to me, but it's the Professor Dekél's orders." He shrugged, and Gemma took over.

"We'll take you to the common room and if you have any questions as we go, please don't hesitate to ask." Gemma and Grey seemed happy to be here, whereas Marcos seemed kind of indifferent towards kids. Brielle hoped that the other Prefect, Shaun, was just having a bad day. He seemed kind of...well...

All four Prefects gave the tour to all the groups at once, so they all knew the same route and such. This way, Marcos had explained, it would be faster to get back for the Banquet. As the Prefects led the first years outside of the Main Hall, Brielle looked around in wonder. The hallway they'd entered ran straight forward, with doorways branching off to either side. The walls were built with marbled black and gray stones, though a lot of them were dulled and chipped at. The doorways were large, but had no doors; there were curtains, beaded strings… anything other than doors.

The hallway had appeared short when they left the Main Hall, but that wasn't the case whatsoever. As they strode past curtains and such, the Prefects pointed out different classrooms, but Brielle felt like she was walking in place. She didn't seem to be getting any closer to the end of the hallway.

Finally, the Prefects took a turn through one of the heavy curtains, which lead them to a very dark room.

"_Lumos_," Gemma commanded, and her wand lit up like a lantern. The other Prefects followed her lead. They paired up, two held their wands up to the wall while the other held it by their feet. Brielle and TJ were in the front of the line, walking close behind the seventh-years so they wouldn't get lost. None of the first years knew the spell, so they all clumped rather closely together to keep towards the light. Marcos and Grey partnered together - though Marcos didn't seem too thrilled about that - and Shaun partnered with Gemma. They told the first years to stay close behind so that they wouldn't trip and fall or get lost, though they were already doing that.

Gemma and Shaun bumped shoulders as they walked, whispering some things back and fourth. They were about the same height; if anything, Shaun was a little taller. Brielle raised an eyebrow when TJ bumped into her. She glared at him confusedly, but his facial expression looked like he hadn't meant to.

"The hallway's narrowing," he explained as Brielle was suddenly squished between TJ and another boy who was in her squad. She let out a deep breath as the Prefects filed one behind the other. The first years followed their lead clumsily, and she almost ran into TJ when the line came to a hault. The wands' lights went out with four whispers. Brielle stuck close behind her friend as the line stayed still.

Marcos and Grey began to whisper-yell at Gemma, and Brielle could hear her yelling back at them. Shaun stayed silent. "I've got it," Gemma said harshly, "_Lumen Parietes._" There was a large shock of light from her wand, then it flew around the walls quickly, lighting several torches that weren't visible before. It lit the corridor nicely; it wasn't overlit but they could now see where they were going. This hallway was very similar to the other, though this one had stairs running straight up from where the Prefects were standing. Literally, straight up. Brielle couldn't see the top of the case. Gemma's arms were crossed triumphantly as Grey rolled his eyes.

"Whatever," he mumbled, "Of course _you're _the only one who can cast it."

"You always do it," Gemma countered and turned to the first years. "I don't know why the torches weren't lit; they usually are. But no matter…"

"This is the entrance to the Drakonas common room," Marcos picked up, eyeing the other two Prefects, "The password is 'flapping fireworks' - "

There was a loud scraping sound coming from the top of the staircase. Gemma rolled her eyes. "I _told _you not to say it so loud."

"But you're a sixth year," Marcos pointed out with a smirk as he advanced up the stairs, "I didn't _actually _listen to you."

"You're such a yit," Gemma swore after him, but still held a smile on her face.

"_You're such a yit_," Marcos mocked her in a fake-British accent. Grey snickered and even Shaun chuckled a little bit. The Prefects led the first years up the stairs and towards the sound Brielle identified as stone-on-stone. The stairs were small but numerous. Very numerous. "They can shorten if you need them to," Gemma explained as they reached the top, "I'll show you on the way back down."

"Of _course _you will," Grey mumbled with a smirk. They all seemed to like to give Gemma a hard time, though she didn't seem to mind much.

The platform at the top of the stairs was large enough to hold all of the students comfortably. In front of them, a large dragon's head was carved onto a stone plate. "Hey Monstro," Grey greeted the stone figure. It stared straight ahead, then its eyes moved so it was looking at the new students. Some of the kids jumped back at the sudden movement, "Got some new meat."

The dragon's lips curled into a smile as the face pressed out of the wall and appeared as a statue rather than a carving. Brielle's eyes widened as Monstro's focus locked on her.

"Well," he hissed with an odd smile, "It's nice to see you again, Grey. Welcome, first years." The dragon directed his words towards the Prefect who'd greeted him, but his eyes stayed on Brielle. His face grew closer to her as his neck grew from the wall. It made the same sound they'd heard before; the scraping. "So, this is Brielle, the girl I've heard about? Brielle Hawkins, whose m - "

"Enough, Monstro," Shaun warned the dragon sharply as he stepped in front of Brielle. The dragon had been about a foot from her face, so Shaun was basically standing on top of her. She swallowed, but her feet were rooted to the ground, too afraid to move. Monstro shrank back slowly, glaring at the seventh-year, "That's enough."

"Sorry," the British dragon snarled at Shaun, then returned to face straight ahead. He shrunk back so his neck was nonexistent. Monstro's mouth opened wide and showed an oaken door, which Marcos pushed through with a "thank you". He held the door for the first years to pass through as he and Grey stood and watched the students go. Shaun turned around and looked straight down. He gave Brielle a small smile, and she returned it.

"Sorry about that, Brielle," he said uncomfortably and ringed the back of his neck, "I'm Shaun." Gemma spotted the two of them and strolled over as he put his hand out. Brielle shook it as Gemma walked up to Shaun and whispered something in his ear. He nodded, said, "It was nice meeting you," and walked away.

Well… That was odd.


	3. It's Housing Time

**Chapter 2**

**A/N: Howdy Hody Doober! Alright so this is chapter 2, again, it's a long one. I hope you like this one too, and the next ones, and the last ones. Again, shoutout to T and R for editing for me, without you two, I don't think I'd be as far as I am! Thank you both so much! (I feel like I'm excepting an Grammy or something)**

**~J**

The Headmistress always seemed to find herself on top of trunks, though Brielle wasn't sure who in their right mind would allow someone to stand on their luggage like that. There could be valuable things in there, after all. Then again, she _was _the one who ran the school, so she probably got her way quite often.

"Welcome to the Main Hall," her voice boomed over the crowd, which fell silent automatically, "Line up by house with your Head, and then separate yourselves by year within the line. Heads, lead your houses to your corresponding Lumé. I would like all Prefects to meet with Professor Madrack and myself immediately to discuss your duties before retreating to your housemates. First years…" she examined the room with a comfortably annoyed look on her face, "Group with each other again until the older students sort themselves."

Brielle watched the hustle and bustle of the students as they grouped themselves by house, each line separated by color of tie and lined up in front of a different professor. She guessed that each house had a certain _professor,_ not student, who acted as the Head of Household. Those with the purple and green ties were mostly males, with the occasional girl mixed in; Drakonas. She wanted to be there, in the line with the athletes, more than anything.

But Connor was in Voras, and she _did _wish to be housed with him. He was the best connection to her childhood, and she wasn't ready to let that go. Then again, if they weren't housed together, maybe they'd still be able to be friends. To her understanding, the classes were grouped by year, so first and second years were together, then third through seventh years had their own classes after that. They'd be in some of the same classes for this year, at the very least.

She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a deep, almost terrifying voice over her shoulder. "Let's move, miss," Brielle's hands began to shake at the intimidating voice as she glanced behind her nervously, but saw a familiar face glaring back. She let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding as she rolled her eyes at her new friend. Brielle shoved his arm, and he grasped it and let out a pretend hiss of pain as she walked away.

He stepped quickly after her. "Is this what I can expect now that we're partners?" TJ questioned, trying to catch up as Brielle walked towards the larger group of first years who looked lost. Although he was as tall, his legs weren't as long as her own, so she could outstep him easily. She spun around and began to walk backwards.

"And when exactly did I say we're partners?" she shot back with a small smile. His hands flew up in the air in fake-surrender and smiled the sideways grin again.

"And she speaks," he announced, "Ladies and gentleman, she has a voice!" Brielle rushed up to him and covered his mouth, but he kept yelling. What he was saying, though, was muffled, so it was alright. When he finally stopped shouting, he pushed her hand away and began to laugh. She followed him into the seemingly endless crowd of white ties with a laugh of her own as the last of the older kids filed into their lines. One kid near the middle of the crowd was speaking cockily about his "knowledge of Aboriginal" and how "it really wasn't all that special".

"_Not all that special_?" Cameron challenged him as Brielle and TJ joined her.

"Yeah," he shot back with an attitude. His hair was cut short over his head and his skin was pale and sickly. He was a tad bit overweight for an eleven year old, though he was average height, and he smelt oddly of sausages. "I've seen places loads more impressive than this piece of trash. Not like the sorry shop your father owns, Ramos - "

"Hey, watch it Cooper," TJ cut in, "Mr. Ramos sells _the _best brooms in the world."

"Oi, Carmen, you've got your boyfriend fighting your battles now?" the kid, Cooper, as TJ had called him, said snobbishly. He stepped forward and came nose to nose - or nose to _chin _- with Cameron.

"It's Cameron," she growled. They stood that way for a while, and Cooper seemed to gain a small posse behind him the longer they stood there.

"He smells like meat," Brielle whispered to TJ, and there were a few sneers from the crowd, including the two boys who seemed like they were his main sidekicks. The kid stopped and glared at Brielle.

"And _who _are _you_?" he rumbled and approached Brielle. "Wait, you're the Hawkins girl." She nodded smally, but didn't back down, despite her anxiety. Cooper smiled crudely, "I'm Zach Cooper. It's a pleasure."

"I wish I could say the same to you," Brielle cocked her head to the side while the crowd gave an _oooh_. He snarled and backed off.

"Whatever. You'd better watch yourself. Don't want to align with the wrong people." He turned on his heel and walked to the other side of the group. A few eyes were on Brielle, and some whispers were flying, but she was too happy that she hadn't backed down to care. TJ congratulated her as people began to go back to their own business.

"That was brilliant," he told her, "I didn't think you had that in you!" Brielle just shrugged and looked back at Cameron. She was staring around the giant room they were in.

Cameron gawked at the room, which Brielle had been too busy with her glasses and Zach Cooper and the Drakonas line to notice. "All this… Under the Muggles' feet and they don't even know it. And this is less than _half _of it all."

This must have been the Main Hall, Brielle assumed. Lighting the room, large and small orbs of heatless fire floated in the space above and around the students. She knew they were heatless because one bumped into Brielle's back and it didn't burn her at all. There were four large holes in the ground, each one sustained by stones inside and built into a ledge around the outside. In the middle of the holes sat rather thick logs, finishing the bonfire scenery. Hanging high over top of each bonfire swayed a banner with a different crest and color pattern, the same as the ties held. In the middle of the room hung a white banner with a black crest - the one the Headmistress had on her tie - and, underneath of it, four black bowls sat on four pedestals. One large gold bowl was in the middle of it all, and it was large enough that Brielle could fit comfortably inside, if she tried to. Which she wasn't going to do.

She looked back at the unlit campfires, as there wasn't much of another place to look, and Cameron spoke up, which made her flinch. Brielle had forgotten she and TJ were there. "Those are the Lumés for each house," she informed Brielle. Each one looked exactly the same, other than the banner flying over it.

All of the lines of students were finally in order and making their way to each Lumé. "Alright," a different voice, this one belonging to a man, shouted over the first years. Only some looked up at the man, who was very, very tall and very, very skinny. And hairy. He was very hairy; not just on his head but more so on his arms and face. If he was _something_, he seemed to be very much of it. The man - who Brielle assumed was a professor of sorts - clapped his hands and all of the first years fell silent, the rest of them looking straight up at him. Something about the way he said _alright_ made Brielle feel like she'd met him before, though she was certain she'd remember meeting a nine foot man.

He smiled an uncomfortable smile at the students and said, "I'm going to ask you to form a single file line, horizontal, facing the Center Ring." Each of the students looked at one another, confused, and Brielle suddenly realized that this was the voice TJ had spoken in to scare her before. She stared wide-eyed at the boy, who simply smirked without needing to look at her to know she was watching. She focused back on the professor.

"Gather 'round the bowls," he mumbled, and the first years did so, somehow managing to file into a neat semicircle around the scene. The professor let out a sigh as another voice echoed through the room.

"Forza, paz e sabedoría," the now familiar voice of the Headmistress boomed across the Main Hall, "Welcome once more, everyone, and an especially warm welcome to our newest class of first years." There was an eruption of applause across all four Lumés, and the Headmistress held her hands up, calming the cheers. "We will commence with the Housing Ceremony, as per tradition, after a few announcements and introductions, as I'm sure you're all eager to settle in."

The long and straight haired woman peered across the students and gave a small smile. "My name is Professor Abbey Lofaro. In case you haven't figured it out yet, first years, I am the Headmistress of the Aboriginal School of Indigenous Magic. I have been so for the past seven years, since I was 20 and fresh out of college, so I must be doing something right." She turned to the lineup of teachers across the back of the room and removed herself from the pedestal, walking among them. She paused in front of each, mentioning their name and the class they teached, club they ran, or house they headed. Brielle only paid attention to the heads of houses as well as Evan's introduction. She also kept her ears open for the Flying instructor and the Gamekeeper.

There was one especially infatuating introduction that Brielle noticed, mostly because the professor seemed to be a bird. No, not seemed; he _was _a bird. "Professor Wren Howe," Lofaro gestured to the feathered friend next to her, then looked at him and let out a sigh, probably realizing that he was a Macaw. "Seriously?" she asked it, and the bird held a wand in its foot. There was a squawk, and then a flash of light from the wand. A professor grew from the bird with a large smile on his face, which was underneath a short, shaggy blonde beard to go with his long, shaggy blonde hair. He was rather attractive, with a younger looking face and a fit physique, making Brielle wonder why _Evan_ was the one the girls chased. Why not Professor Howe?

"Sorry, Professor," he apologized with a northern American accent or something of the sorts.

The Headmistress continued with a roll of her eyes, "Wren Howe. Transfigurations professor and Head of Ara." The students with the blue and yellow ties cheered exceptionally loud, so Brielle thought it was safe to bet that they were members of the Ara house. "Also, newly stated head of music." The group cheered again, and the Headmistress was onto the next professor.

"Merlin, I'd best not be in Ara," TJ whispered, and he bumped into her arm. She raised an eyebrow as she turned her head to look at the boy. He leaned back and looked at her as she leaned back, too. He showed a single dimple as he smirked. "What? I'm not one for the whole theatrical crowd."

Brielle glared back at the group of blue and yellow tied students curiously and wondered if they were _all _talented in theatre. She certainly hoped not; she'd never been one for music, so listening to them sing and "perform" in the hallways wouldn't be the most enthralling thing that could happen.

After the Headmistress finished introducing all of the professors for this term, she returned to her place at the podium. For the first time all day, it seemed, she wasn't standing on someone's luggage. "Let's have a round of applause for our first years, everyone," Headmistress Lofaro clapped her hands slowly, and all of the houses and professors applauded in the same manner, making Brielle a bit uncomfortable. She glanced to the group of brown-tied students, who, from their intense clapping after the introduction of Professor Morrison, she realized were Voras. She looked for Connor, who was already staring back at the girl. Her face reddened as he gave her a quick wink, and she turned back to listen to the Headmistress as the clapping stopped.

"I know you're all eager to be housed, so let's begin," her hands folded together as the first years readjusted themselves, Brielle shifting from one foot to the other. She was so nervous; the next seven years of her life were based on this, the housing ceremony. "Professor Madrack, if you'd please."

The anxious first year tried to hide her wide smile as Evan stepped up to the pedestal. He cleared his throat, and a small group of the girls next to Brielle giggled and looked at each other. Some of the oldest girls who were already seated wiggled their eyebrows at each other while a lot of the guys sat back and rolled their eyes, like they were too cool for him. Brielle's smile faded instantly and was replaced by a look of disgust before Cameron nudged her with an elbow.

"You alright?" she whispered, and Brielle nodded reluctantly as her foster brother began speaking. She hated this stupid _all-the-girls-love-him _thing.

"Sorting is rather simple, though you should probably listen up so you know what to do when you're up. First, take your place in the middle urn and make sure your tie is on properly. None of this rebellious tie-draped-around-the-neck crap." He eyed Voras, and snickers and sneers came from the girls and boys of the house. "Once you've done that, you'll find four bowls around you filled with Vanduo, each the color of one house. There will be a cup above each bowl of it. Dip the cup into the bowl and take a quick swig of each. Try not to take breaks in between, or else it'll make it worse. Any questions?"

Cameron's hand shot straight up in the air, though it seemed pretty straightforward to Brielle. Evan smiled and pointed to her. She began to speak loudly and clearly, so the entire room could hear her. "What do you mean it'll 'make it worse'?"

Evan gave a small, sly smirk and simply said, "You'll see."

Headmistress Lofaro stepped back to the podium and grabbed a piece of parchment that Brielle hadn't noticed before. Her wand turned into a quill as she lifted the parchment closer to her face. She looked to Evan, who smiled, and handed him the scroll and quill. He stood a few feet behind the bowls and announced, "First, Hunter Boyle."

A rather short, thin boy from the middle of the line made his way nervously to the Center Ring, all eyes on him. He anxiously stepped over the edge of the largest brass bowl in the middle, and four small cups appeared as promised, floating above the Vanduo. He looked around at the four colored liquids and went for the gray one first. Brielle guessed that he wished to be housed with the gray and orange ties if he began there. He took a large gulp of the liquid, but dropped the cup on the ground immediately and began to cough. He was reminded by the Headmistress to continue, and he quickly took a small drink of the other three liquids. The boy coughed for quite a while, and Brielle suddenly knew what Evan meant by _worse._

After his coughing fit, Hunter Boyle's face turned a deep shade of red, beginning at his forehead and making it's way down to his cheeks, then his chin and neck. The white tie that lied loosely around his shirt tightened a bit, then flicked rather violently - Brielle thought she saw it hit him in the face. When it fell back to settle on his chest, it faded into the clean gray and orange pattern as the others from the house wore. He took a huge, deep breath and let out a shriek that made everyone cover their ears; it was terrifying. Like a fox. His hands slammed over his mouth and, eyes wide, looked at his tie. He dropped his hands and smiled triumphantly.

The entire house of gray ties stood from their benches as Evan shouted, "Hunter Boyle, Raposo!" The house erupted into cheers and hollers as the boy retreated from the urn and was escorted to his house's Lumé by the head of Raposo, Professor Yule. Hunter was greeted with handshakes and a few pats on the back as he took his place among his housemates.

"Next," the Evan continued once Hunter was seated and Raposo had settled down a bit, "Tyler Jaspar Barry." TJ bounced on the balls of his feet as Cameron whispered good luck. He strutted up to the urn cooly and hopped over with ease, swinging both feet in the air at once, and Brielle rolled her eyes at his overconfidence. She did, however, find it interesting that when he was inside the urn, his face paled and he looked around nervously, but he somehow managed to keep a small smile on his face. Obviously, he thought this was the most imperative moment for the next seven years, like Brielle did.

Then something strange happened, something Brielle didn't quite understand. TJ's eyes locked on hers, and he looked…scared. Regardless of the fact that they'd just met, she didn't think that there was anything that could scare him. She gave him a small smile and a nod of encouragement, and he gave a small nod back, looking somewhat calmer.

"Any time now, Mr. Barry," Headmistress Lofaro rushed him impatiently, and he apologized. He grabbed one of the cups and dipped it into the Vanduo. He let out a deep breath as he swallowed the brown liquid, then made his way to the other three quickly. His tie began to shake, and he squatted, elbows on his knees. He was obviously trying not to let out a noise or to cough like Hunter had. But the unavoidable did happen, and he began to cough louder than the other boy. He stood upright and tried to cover his mouth, but his tie flickered quickly and blocked his arm, smacking TJ in the face a few times, too. His hand went to his forehead rather than his mouth, and the tie began to fade into a deep purple and green.

He smiled at his tie, and then threw his head back and let out a roar like a lion mixed with some sort of monster; like a Dragon.

"Tyler Barry," Evan declared triumphantly, "Drakonas." The entire house erupted into applause and cheers as TJ took a glance at Brielle and Cameron. The blonde gave him a thumbs up, and Brielle let out a smile and a few claps. She was happy that TJ had been housed in Drakonas; he was a friend, now, and he looked happy about it, so why wouldn't she be, as well? This also intensified her desire to become a Drakonas. Now, she knew someone in the house.

A few other students took their turns; Benji Graves ended up in Raposo, Cora Mink in Voras, and the twins Thalia and Kylie Jenkins went to Ara. That Zach Cooper was also sorted into Voras, which wasn't a shock. She did have to say, she had fun seeing him cough and choke a bit. He truly did deserve it for being such a jerk.

Evan moved his finger down the parchment to Zach's name and crossed him off, then read the next name from the scroll. He cleared his throat, and the line of first years moved together to close the holes that had been made by the already housed.

"Brielle Hawkins."

Her eyes widened as she realized that she'd just been called. Brielle stood still as a statue and looked at Evan, who raised an eyebrow. She looked at the group of Voras that grew by two so far, and Connor glared at her devilishly. He gave her a small smile and a wink. Her eyes then drifted to Zach Cooper, and he crossed his arms expectantly. She could almost smell the sausage.

"Go, kid," Cameron whispered and gave her a little shove. Before she knew it, her feet were slugging across the floor and towards the urn. She stepped over cautiously, and the four cups appeared over top of the bowls of Vanduo. She looked around at the crowd of students who were anxiously watching, and her eyes locked with TJ's at the Drakonas Lumé. He gave her a small nod, and she returned it - just as they had when_ he _was about to drink the liquid. Now their roles were reversed, and she was more nervous than ever. Cameron gave her a smile and a reassuring look, which she appreciated.

Brielle glared at the four bowls and took the cup over the blue liquid symbolizing Ara, as it seemed the least strange of all four. The cup was light in her hand, and she brought it to her lips slowly. Her plan was to swallow it like she'd seen Larissa do with alcohol late at night - one at a time, she would throw the liquid back quickly until all four were down. She counted in her head as she smelled the sweet scent of what seemed like fruit coming from the Ara Vanduo.

_One, two…_

Evan looked at her with wide eyes, rushing her a little bit, and she nodded.

_Three._

The liquid went back like fire, burning her esophagus as it slithered down her throat. Her body heated up and her lungs began to empty. It was difficult to breathe, but she went for the brown liquid next, shooting that one back but almost coughing it back up due to the even fouler taste. Brielle doubled over as she choked down the third, purple liquid. This is the one she wanted to work, the one she _needed _to work. She couldn't breathe and her legs buckled, making her fall to one knee, then two. She slammed her hand on the side of the urn and pressed herself back up, grabbing the last cup from the air. She dipped it into the Vanduo shakily and gulped it down. The coughing was a more intense pain than she'd ever felt in her lungs before, but after the fourth liquid was settled in her stomach, it diminished a bit. The burning went from her lungs to her gut, then a warm buzz began to flow through her body and arranged itself around her neck, where the tie laid. She looked down as the tie flew back and forth in a circle, like a helicopter almost.

The tie was tightened instantly around her neck, choking her a bit, as she watched it change color. It began darkening into an almost gray color, and Brielle began to get nervous until it shifted into a light brown, like it was trying to decide between Raposo and Voras. She shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut tight, thinking _Drakonas, Drakonas, Drakonas… _she opened them to her now settled down tie and saw that it had changed into a deep violet.

A smile snuck to her face as the green edges and crest began to form on the fabric. She looked up and felt a lump in her stomach, though she didn't know why, as this was exactly what she wanted. It built up and churned in her chest, then began to move up towards her throat, traveled through her esophagus and to the back of her mouth. She tried to swallow it down, but before she knew it she let out a blood-curdling roar. The lump was still there, though, even after the roar.

She heard Evan's muffled voice begin to announce her house behind the buzzing in her ears, but she began to cough again, once, twice, and on the third time, heat seared in the inside of her mouth. A large burst of heat shot across her lips, creating a fireball in the air around her head. The entire student body sounded with a large yell of fear as the fire died down. Brielle's eyes widened, as did most of the faculty's, as whispers began to fly around the room, some pointing, others giving strange glares.

"Brielle Hawkins," Evan's face was paled and his eyes far off as he choked the words out, "Drakonas." Even he was confused, fearful almost. There was silence following it, and she hopped out of the urn slowly, her foot catching on the edge. She crashed to the floor embarrassingly, but stood back up quickly and hoped no one had really noticed.

"Yeah," TJ cheered and gave a few claps. He let out a whoop as he cheered for his new housemate, "Yeah, Brielle!"

A few claps accompanied his, most from Drakonas, and one or two of the others from unplaced first years, like Cameron. Evan was among those who applauded. Brielle's face reddened severely as she sat down next to TJ, where fellow students had made a spot for her, and the Headmistress began to clap. All of the other students followed in her footsteps, clapping for Brielle slowly. She shrank into her seat as TJ's hand patted her leg. She flinched, not expecting it, but she relaxed and looked up at her newfound friend. He gave her a small nod and smile through a paled face. Her housemates didn't hide their stares, and Brielle could feel their eyes on her cheeks. But, as she looked around at everyone, some eyes flickered back to the urn while the rest couldn't look away from the girl.

It looked like TJ and Cameron would be her only friends here.

Headmistress Lofaro cleared her throat and Evan flicked the parchment, crossing Brielle's name off with his quill. His face seemed unaffected by Brielle's sudden outburst, other than the slight shake in her hand when she crossed her name out. Evan continued down the list.

"Cameron Ramos."

A boy sitting across the Drakonas Lumé sat on the edge of his seat as Cameron strode to the urn. She, too, seemed nervous, especially after Brielle's performance. Brielle watched the boy on the other side of the unlit Lumé with his hands clenched so tight around one another that his knuckles were white and his hands trembling.

"That's Jesse," TJ whispered, following her gaze to the anxious student. She recognized the boy on the other side as the one who'd first stood up to shake TJ's hand when he was housed. "Second year, Cameron's brother." Jesse had bright green eyes, much like his sister's, but that's where their resemblance ended. His skin was tan and his hair was dark brown and spiked over his head, the opposite of Cameron's. He also seemed of average height for his age - though it was hard to tell because he was sitting - whereas Cameron was very short. She was just tall enough to peek over the side of the large urn, let alone to get into it.

It took her a while to find a way in since her legs were so tiny, but when one of the professors brought over a stool, she hopped in right away. Her blonde braid was balanced in the middle of her back as the four little cups appeared in mid-air once more. She picked one out and examined it, then set it back where it was. When she seemed satisfied with the result that it hovered again, she filled one up with the gray Vanduo, placing it back in the air. It bobbed a bit, but stayed suspended. She did the same for the remaining three liquids, then went back around and collected them so she held two in each hand.

She bounced on the balls of her feet, poising her right hand under her lip so she was able to drink from both cups, then shot back each handful quickly. She began to cough immediately after she swallowed them, her face turning brighter red than Brielle's did when she was embarrassed by the fireball. The tie began to vibrate in the air, following the protocol as all the other ties had. She glanced down as the tie faded into a deep brown, shocking TJ and Brielle and, obviously, Cameron. Her face went slack as a bright red border and crest began to appear on the fabric, and she looked like she was about to cry. She looked up to TJ and Brielle, then over to her brother.

"Cameron Ramos," Evan announced, "Voras." The group of brown tied students stood up and cheered as the professor put the stool on the inside of the urn for the girl, but she stood still as a statue. The professor told her to join her house, so her feet stomped up the stairs like stones and she hopped over. She tried to have a smile on her face as she made her way over. Brielle's eyes followed her acquaintance to the Voras campsite, and she looked back to see Connor sticking his wand back into his jacket.

Clearly, she wasn't the only one who saw him.

There was a loud noise accompanying a fast movement in the corner of Brielle's eye, and Jesse brushed past her shoulder and moved quickly towards Voras.

"You," he screamed as he approached Connor, who was congratulating Cameron on her housing. Connor's dull blue eyes moved to the enraged brother, and they widened immediately when the he pulled his wand.

"Mister Ramos," Headmistress Lofaro warned, but to no effect; he didn't stop. He marched right up to Connor and jabbed his wand under the boy's chin, pressing him into the wall. Connor smirked and stared back at Jesse.

"Did what?" he impishly asked, as if he was a child.

"Don't play victim. You did that," Jesse growled, "didn't you? You made her Voras, you little - "

"_Mister Ramos_," the Headmistress repeated, this time in a more stern and demanding voice. Jesse stopped and angrily looked up at the professor, who stood fiercely at the podium. He looked back at the kid in front of him, then back to the Headmistress. He lowered his wand, moving his eyes back to Connor. The wand was slipped back into his inside blazer pocket, and he shoved the other second year against the wall.

He backed off and turned to his sister, whose eyes were widened with fear. Cameron had seemed so confident before, but Brielle assumed she'd never seen Jesse lash out like that. He walked up to her and whispered something in his sister's ear, and she nodded in response. Jesse glared back at Connor, then made his way over to the Drakonas camp. He plopped down in his seat as Connor straightened out his still untucked shirt and loose tie, then returned to his seat, too. Cameron sat on the opposing side as the sandy-haired boy, probably per Jesse's wish.

For the rest of sorting, the room was silent other than the coughing of the first years and the cheers of the houses when a new student joined them, though they were less festive than before. And between Brielle's searing introduction and Jesse and Connor's disbuttle, who could blame them for being a little grumpy?

"Mitchell Love," Evan announced the last name as the chubby first year made his way to his new house, "Raposo." The boy was even bigger than meaty-smelling Zach Cooper, and he hobbled to his area as the Evan rolled the parchment. It disappeared the moment it was rolled completely.

"Alright," Headmistress Lofaro declared in her booming voice, as it always seems to be, "Prefects, please rise." Four of the older students from each house, most likely sixth and seventh years, rose from their seats. "First years, Prefects are the equivalency to a hall monitor during your time at Aboriginal. They are sixth or seventh year students who, on your first day, will show you around the school. The first week of class, they will be roaming the halls during and between classes to help you find your way. After the first week, they are solely for the purpose of monitoring misconduct in the hallways and late night stragglers. While some will still guide you to class upon request, they will no longer be in the halls during class periods and will be required to arrive on time to their own classes. Do not expect them to be late to their class in order to help you reach yours.

"The four Prefects from each house will now show you all to your respective common rooms. After each of you is settled and in uniform, they will lead you through the corridors and back here, where we will be holding an official Banquet for the kickoff of the school year. Second through seventh years who aren't Prefects are to go to their common rooms until it's time for the Banquet." The Headmistress paused and looked around at the campsites warily, pausing at each house's Lumé. She stopped for a particularly long time when she looked at Drakonas, pinpointing Jesse.

"I expect full cooperation with your house. There will be no fraternizing with other houses during or while waiting for the Banquet." She glared right at Jesse, whose knee was bouncing rapidly and eyes were glaring at the ground. He was clearly still angry and probably knew that she was looking right at him. When he realized she'd stopped talking, his head tilted up, but he wasn't looking at the professor; he was looking at Brielle. Her eyes lingered longer than they should have, but his green orbs locked on her gray ones. Jesse raised an eyebrow at her with a bit of an attitude and mouthed the word "what", and her face reddened as she turned her attention back to the Headmistress.

_Why did you want to be in Drakonas? _Brielle asked herself as she went to tune back into Headmistress Lofaro's speech, but the stern professor was still glaring at the Lumés, this time at Connor. She took a deep breath as she wrapped up her spiel, "Go on, now."

As the houses stood up and the Prefects began to split the first years up into groups, the second through seventh years picked up their things and moved out the door slowly. Old friends were catching up with each other, filling the hall with chatter. Brielle sat still next to TJ. She didn't want to move, didn't want to make another unintentional mistake like the fire. TJ stood up and smiled down at her.

"Let's go then," TJ cheerfully said. He looked down at her with a frown, probably remembering her anxiety, "Let's try and get a group together." He offered her a hand, which she ignored as she stood to match his height. He frowned again as other students began to swarm around them in all directions, "Brielle, I know the fire thing was… unexpected, to say the least… but this'll be fun, promise."

She raised an eyebrow, knowing it wouldn't be fun for _her_, and looked over his shoulder. Her gray eyes shot open as she saw the Headmistress approaching Drakonas. TJ turned and saw her coming, too, and he whipped back around quickly. Brielle kept her eyes locked on the professor as she pushed through the crowd gracefully and reached Jesse, who hadn't stood up from the other side of the unlit Lumé yet. She put a hand on his shoulder and he looked up sadly, probably knowing what was coming.

The Headmistress spotted Connor across the room as well, and she took Jesse with her to get him. Once they were together, they began to leave the room, until Headmistress Lofaro turned on her heel. She stared back at the Main Hall for a few minutes and Brielle got anxious, but then she turned and took the second years out. Brielle presumed that the professor was taking them to her office, though she couldn't be certain.

"He's really not a bad guy. Just protective is all," said TJ as he followed Brielle's gaze to the door. She nodded her head nonchalantly; she didn't feel like talking right now, not that she ever did anyways. She wondered if the Headmistress was going to talk to her at all about the fireball. She surely would like to know more about it and why it happened to _her_, of all people.

"Alright," four older student stood on the Lumé's stone walls, snapping Brielle out of her thoughts. The one drawing the attention to himself was very short, but built like an athlete. His arms were ripped with strength, as were all of the Drakonas Prefects' arms, but his were by far the strongest. The boy talking had bright red hair - more like orange than anything - and paled skin with a few freckles scattered across his nose and cheeks. He looked like a stereotypical Irishman, but he had an American accent. It made Brielle wonder what he was doing in Europe for school. "Here's what's going to happen. There's about thirty-six of you - " he stopped and counted quickly again, "Exactly thirty-six. It's kind of tough to keep track of all of you, so you'll split into groups. There will be four groups of nine. I'll take a group," he motioned to the two boys and one girl standing next to him, "and they will each take a group. Assemble into nines, and we'll introduce ourselves once that's done."

The first years looked around at each other and molded themselves into small groups. TJ, Brielle, and seven other boys stood in a small circle as they waited for the Prefects to join them. Most of the students were boys; there were only four first year girls throughout all 36 new Drakonas; one was in each group of nine. Brielle was somewhat happy she had a house with mostly boys, just because they didn't have any drama like girls did, and even the girls here wouldn't have much drama since they were in the athletic house, anyways. Though she _would _miss Cameron. They hadn't even known each other for very long, but she thought they would have been good friends. It also seemed like TJ and Cameron were good friends, so she wanted Cameron there for _him _at the very least.

As TJ began making friends, which he seemed to be good at doing, Brielle glanced around the room as they waited, admiring the feel to it. There was this an outdoorsy look and sense to it that she loved, as if they were actually at a campsite. The walls were lined with pillars and large clear windows connected them so she could see straight through to the outdoors. Outside was a large forest with all different types of trees, many of which Brielle had never seen before. To the right of the Hall, she saw the other two bonfires, holding the Ara and Raposo first years. She noticed that as students filed out, the fires shrank until they were slightly larger than a normal pit. She assumed that the more people who came from each house, the larger the bonfire grew to accommodate them all. Behind the pits, the walls were the same layout, however this side had a large lake running towards it. The sun glistened on the water beautifully, and she realized that the lake was flowing right through the bottom of the school. She wondered how that was possible, but no matter. When she looked up, there was no ceiling. Clouds floated rapidly through the perfectly blue sky, changing shape so they looked like the animals of each house.

The fiery-haired boy cleared his throat loudly, and all of the students stopped what they were doing to look at him. He gave a smirk at the power he had over the young kids and announced with a clear voice, "My name is Marcos Dayton. I'm a seventh year, the captain and Seeker for the Drakonas Quidditch team. I've been a Prefect for three years now, since before we didn't have to be seventh-years. My entire family has been housed in Drakonas, along with my brother Mickey, who is a fourth year now."

He looked at the fellow Prefect to his left. The next boy was about a foot taller than Marcos, though that made him average height, and his eyes were black. Just black. They didn't have any color around the pupils, which Brielle found odd. His hair was very nice, though; it was dark brown and spiked in the front a little bit. "I'm Shaun Farlowe. I am currently a sixth year Beater on the Quidditch team and the first of my family to be sorted into Drakonas, as the rest were and are placed in Ara." There were a few snickers among one of the groups. Shaun's eyes darted over in their direction, and the laughs stopped immediately when the once black space turned a bright green color, much brighter than Jesse's eyes. Shaun's were glowing like a firefly almost. He was about to say something until the next Prefect interrupted.

"Gemma Wilkins," the girl said quickly and sharply, placing a small hand around Shaun's wrist. He stopped and gritted his teeth as his eyes faded back to black. He seemed to calm down at her touch. Gemma seemed happy to be there, a bright smile on her face even when Shaun almost lashed out. Her dark brown - practically black - hair was parted down the middle with a messy bun at the base. She wore a thick black headband to match the black uniform sweater and blazer she wore. "Sixth year. One of two sixth year Prefects this year, since, as Marcos said, they're supposed to be all seventh-years. I was an anomaly due to my exceptional knowledge of Aboriginal." She looked over the first years proudly, as if waiting for some sort of reaction, but didn't receive one. Brielle noticed she had a very slight slur when she spoke her "s". She cleared her throat and continued, "Also, the first of my family to be a Drakonas, since I'm the only one who's attended school here. The rest went to Hogwarts, but when we moved to Wexford I came here. I'm the assistant captain on the Quidditch team and a Chaser. I run the tutoring sessions in the Reference Center due to my photographic memory. I also help with training in the Fitness Room after class hours - "

"Yeah, cool, Gem," the seemingly impatient boy to her right rolled his eyes jokingly as he faked a yawn. She elbowed him in the side, and he laughed, showing his insanely white teeth. The seventh year had spiked brown hair that came to a point in the middle. "Okay," he clapped, "I'm Grey Torres...um," he clapped again, "Some things about me...I'm a seventh year, I have ADHD, and no matter what I say now, it won't compare to the layout Gemma and the others just gave you... so I'm about done here." Grey leaned forward and smiled at Marcos, whose fingers were pinching his forehead.

"Every time," he muttered as he hopped off of the stone, standing in front of Brielle's group. Marcos was hardly taller than her, which was odd because he was 17 and she was 11. He cracked his back as the other Prefects followed his lead, leaving the height of the stones and standing by their respective groups. "These are your squads. If we think someone went missing or got lost along the way, we'll be able to count within squads now. I don't know, it doesn't make sense to me, but it's the Professor Dekél's orders." He shrugged, and Gemma took over.

"We'll take you to the common room and if you have any questions as we go, please don't hesitate to ask." Gemma and Grey seemed happy to be here, whereas Marcos seemed kind of indifferent towards kids. Brielle hoped that the other Prefect, Shaun, was just having a bad day. He seemed kind of...well...

All four Prefects gave the tour to all the groups at once, so they all knew the same route and such. This way, Marcos had explained, it would be faster to get back for the Banquet. As the Prefects led the first years outside of the Main Hall, Brielle looked around in wonder. The hallway they'd entered ran straight forward, with doorways branching off to either side. The walls were built with marbled black and gray stones, though a lot of them were dulled and chipped at. The doorways were large, but had no doors; there were curtains, beaded strings… anything other than doors.

The hallway had appeared short when they left the Main Hall, but that wasn't the case whatsoever. As they strode past curtains and such, the Prefects pointed out different classrooms, but Brielle felt like she was walking in place. She didn't seem to be getting any closer to the end of the hallway.

Finally, the Prefects took a turn through one of the heavy curtains, which lead them to a very dark room.

"_Lumos_," Gemma commanded, and her wand lit up like a lantern. The other Prefects followed her lead. They paired up, two held their wands up to the wall while the other held it by their feet. Brielle and TJ were in the front of the line, walking close behind the seventh-years so they wouldn't get lost. None of the first years knew the spell, so they all clumped rather closely together to keep towards the light. Marcos and Grey partnered together - though Marcos didn't seem too thrilled about that - and Shaun partnered with Gemma. They told the first years to stay close behind so that they wouldn't trip and fall or get lost, though they were already doing that.

Gemma and Shaun bumped shoulders as they walked, whispering some things back and fourth. They were about the same height; if anything, Shaun was a little taller. Brielle raised an eyebrow when TJ bumped into her. She glared at him confusedly, but his facial expression looked like he hadn't meant to.

"The hallway's narrowing," he explained as Brielle was suddenly squished between TJ and another boy who was in her squad. She let out a deep breath as the Prefects filed one behind the other. The first years followed their lead clumsily, and she almost ran into TJ when the line came to a hault. The wands' lights went out with four whispers. Brielle stuck close behind her friend as the line stayed still.

Marcos and Grey began to whisper-yell at Gemma, and Brielle could hear her yelling back at them. Shaun stayed silent. "I've got it," Gemma said harshly, "_Lumen Parietes._" There was a large shock of light from her wand, then it flew around the walls quickly, lighting several torches that weren't visible before. It lit the corridor nicely; it wasn't overlit but they could now see where they were going. This hallway was very similar to the other, though this one had stairs running straight up from where the Prefects were standing. Literally, straight up. Brielle couldn't see the top of the case. Gemma's arms were crossed triumphantly as Grey rolled his eyes.

"Whatever," he mumbled, "Of course _you're _the only one who can cast it."

"You always do it," Gemma countered and turned to the first years. "I don't know why the torches weren't lit; they usually are. But no matter…"

"This is the entrance to the Drakonas common room," Marcos picked up, eyeing the other two Prefects, "The password is 'flapping fireworks' - "

There was a loud scraping sound coming from the top of the staircase. Gemma rolled her eyes. "I _told _you not to say it so loud."

"But you're a sixth year," Marcos pointed out with a smirk as he advanced up the stairs, "I didn't _actually _listen to you."

"You're such a yit," Gemma swore after him, but still held a smile on her face.

"_You're such a yit_," Marcos mocked her in a fake-British accent. Grey snickered and even Shaun chuckled a little bit. The Prefects led the first years up the stairs and towards the sound Brielle identified as stone-on-stone. The stairs were small but numerous. Very numerous. "They can shorten if you need them to," Gemma explained as they reached the top, "I'll show you on the way back down."

"Of _course _you will," Grey mumbled with a smirk. They all seemed to like to give Gemma a hard time, though she didn't seem to mind much.

The platform at the top of the stairs was large enough to hold all of the students comfortably. In front of them, a large dragon's head was carved onto a stone plate. "Hey Monstro," Grey greeted the stone figure. It stared straight ahead, then its eyes moved so it was looking at the new students. Some of the kids jumped back at the sudden movement, "Got some new meat."

The dragon's lips curled into a smile as the face pressed out of the wall and appeared as a statue rather than a carving. Brielle's eyes widened as Monstro's focus locked on her.

"Well," he hissed with an odd smile, "It's nice to see you again, Grey. Welcome, first years." The dragon directed his words towards the Prefect who'd greeted him, but his eyes stayed on Brielle. His face grew closer to her as his neck grew from the wall. It made the same sound they'd heard before; the scraping. "So, this is Brielle, the girl I've heard about? Brielle Hawkins, whose m - "

"Enough, Monstro," Shaun warned the dragon sharply as he stepped in front of Brielle. The dragon had been about a foot from her face, so Shaun was basically standing on top of her. She swallowed, but her feet were rooted to the ground, too afraid to move. Monstro shrank back slowly, glaring at the seventh-year, "That's enough."

"Sorry," the British dragon snarled at Shaun, then returned to face straight ahead. He shrunk back so his neck was nonexistent. Monstro's mouth opened wide and showed an oaken door, which Marcos pushed through with a "thank you". He held the door for the first years to pass through as he and Grey stood and watched the students go. Shaun turned around and looked straight down. He gave Brielle a small smile, and she returned it.

"Sorry about that, Brielle," he said uncomfortably and ringed the back of his neck, "I'm Shaun." Gemma spotted the two of them and strolled over as he put his hand out. Brielle shook it as Gemma walked up to Shaun and whispered something in his ear. He nodded, said, "It was nice meeting you," and walked away.

Well… That was odd.


	4. Getting Settled

**Chapter 3**

**A/N: I have 57 reads! (I'm not sure if that's good or not but hey, I'm happy with it) AND I have a review, as well as a favorite, AND a 97 in my math class. Life's good :)**

**Don't forget to follow and favorite and review with suggestions at the end, or now, whatever you'd like. I mean, I don't know you, you could want to do it now.**

**~J**

"Brielle, right?" Gemma asked, and Brielle nodded slowly. She smiled down at the first year sweetly, but her face looked a bit stressed. "I'm Gemma. Come now, I'll show you in." Gemma put her arm around Brielle's shoulder, which tightened as they neared the dragon. They both thanked Marcos for holding the door, and Gemma shot a look back out to - probably - Shaun. She nodded, then focused her attention back on Brielle.

As they entered the main common room, the students stood and gazed around the area. There were a few elegant purple couches around the room with light oak floors and mahogany coffee tables. Bookshelves around the room held numerous texts, but also a bunch of old artifacts, like pointed hats and tiny statues and trophies. Along the walls were pennant flags with the Drakonas crest on them, medals, pictures of people on broomsticks, plaques with numerous achievements engraved on them. A large doorway to the left was surrounded by quite a few brooms, which looked communal. There were two more doorways on the other side of the room, both with green door frames and purple doors. If they were meant to embrace their house, the color scheme in the room sure did exemplify that.

"This is the common room," Marcos explained. Brielle hadn't even noticed he'd come in. Gemma dropped her arm and glanced towards Shaun, who was just coming through the tiny outcove by the door. She didn't move from the first year's side, though. Marcos continued speaking, "You'll probably spend most of your time in here and your rooms. It's just a place for Drakonas to hang out with each other without the Ara getting in the way and such." Shaun sent him a stern look with his eyes beginning to glow, but it was clear Marcos meant what he said. Shaun looked to Gemma, who was still close to Brielle's side, and she gave him a _relax_ sort of look. His eyes stopped glowing, but his hands curled into tight fists at his sides.

"We have two sets of dorms," Marcos continued, "They're separated by year, not by gender like the other houses, because we have more boys than girls and that wouldn't be fair to give the girls a seemingly huge room and the boys a seemingly tiny one, or vice versa, so you share." A group of boys who looked to be second or third years looked at each other and wiggled their eyebrows. Jesse the Hothead was among them; he rolled his eyes and crossed his arms at his three friends. One of the older students winked at a first year girl, whose face turned a bright shade of pink. Jesse elbowed him harshly in the side. Marcos's attention was drawn to the students as he continued, "However we do have ways to separate you at night, so don't get any ideas." Jesse left the third years and entered the room on the left silently. His friends crossed in front of Marcos to leave the common room, and Brielle wondered how Jesse had already made it back from wherever he went with the Headmistress.

"The rooms on the left are for first through fourth years," Grey picked up, as Marcos's eyes were still on the leaving boys, "Your things are already on your beds, along with your uniforms. There is an attached bathroom within the dormitories, which has two chambers; one for each gender. Those _are _separate. When you enter the dorms, you should find your bed and immediately change into uniform so we can return to the Main Hall for the Banquet."

The first years stood still for a moment, then Grey motioned to the common rooms. The children swarmed the door slowly, Brielle near the back. TJ was somewhere up further. She knew this because she saw his head pop up over the others' and his eyes scan the crowd. They locked on Brielle and his lips turned up into a smile as he retreated towards the back of the line of students. His eyes kept flickering from blue to brown, and she wondered what it was that made them change color.

They finally made their way through the doorway as the last of the kids filed into the room. The inside was larger than Brielle had imagined. Scratch that - it was enormous. The beds were like bunk beds, except one bunk was transformed into a desk. There were some desks on top and some on bottom. Each bed was separated by a large wardrobe. In the middle aisle between the sets of beds were tables with cards, candies, and loads of other things that Brielle hadn't expected to be in a dormitory. Each of the beds had a name tag on the end that looked handmade for each person. She wondered if Ara made them or if someone in Drakonas did; probably the latter. Why would Ara make Drakonas name tags?

When they finally found their beds, Brielle and TJ saw that they were across the aisle from one another. Her bed was on the bottom and the desk was on the top, which she was happy about. She prefered to sleep on the bottom because, if she rolled out of bed, she wouldn't have as far to fall. The bed was covered in a cool green comforter and purple pillows. She raised an eyebrow, as every other bed was the opposite of the last; if one had green sheets and purple pillows, the next was green pillows and purple sheets, then back again. She shook her head at how everything was color-oriented. She climbed up to the top bunk and found a folded black sweater, a black collared shirt, a white collared shirt, black pants, a black skirt, and a black blazer. There was also the Aboriginal school robe draped across the end of the bed next to a purple and green striped scarf and hat, probably for the upcoming winter.

Suddenly, a sharp squawking sound erupted in Brielle's ears. She covered them up quickly, nearly losing her balance on the ladder, and turned to the head of her bed, which seemed to be the source of the racket. In a cage on the thick headboard sat a large cage, in which a tan and brown bird perched itself on a little swing. It's head turned to the side, the dark blue eyes staring back at the first year. She smiled, as now she recognized the bird as Péleda, the family owl. The bird had a small piece of paper on its cage, as well.

It read, _You can keep him here since I "lied" about the broom. ~Evan _

Brielle smiled and opened the cage, not paying attention to the fact that _lied _was in quotes, and pet Péleda gently on the head with the back of a finger. She was so enthralled with her new bunk mate that she had completely forgotten to change into her uniform. She grabbed the white shirt, black pants, and blazer from the bed and scrambled into the girls' bathroom. It was kind of small compared to the bedroom, however everything probably looked small compared to the bedroom. She threw everything on quickly, double checking that her shirt was tucked into her pants, the collar poked out of the blazer, and the blazer was on straight. She scrambled out of the bathroom door, just catching the remainder of the students leaving. The third and second years had left, too, as the Banquet was probably starting soon and they wanted food.

She scurried out of the dormitory door as the last student to leave. Brielle noticed a few older students, probably two or three from each year, scattered around the room. She wondered if they were just there to relax and were not going to the Banquet until later. She scanned the crowd of kids quickly for TJ. He wasn't too hard to find despite the uniforms, as his changing eyes caught her attention quickly. Standing coolly next to him was none other than Jesse Ramos, who seemed to be popping up everywhere now. Brielle swallowed hard as she began to clam up. She had no particular interest in acquainting herself with a hothead like he was, though he seemed relatively lighthearted from across the room.

Jessie's tan hand ran through his somewhat short, dark hair as he explained something to TJ, which seemed to give a good first year glanced in her direction, then did a double take and smiled, waving Brielle over. She approached cautiously, as she was still unsure of Jesse. Jesse's green eyes flicked to where TJ was looking, and he gave a small grin upon realization that she was strolling towards them. As she stopped next to TJ, her eyes stayed locked on his feet.

"Nice uniform," he smiled, and she returned it. TJ looked so official in his uniform.

"You too, TJ."

TJ turned back to the other boy, who was leaning on the wall like he was actually cool. "Jesse, this is - " TJ began, but Jesse cut him off.

"Brielle," he placed a hand under her chin, and she gritted her teeth as she looked up into his eyes. She gave a look of disgust for him. She didn't want anything to do with Jesse Ramos. "Hawkins, right? The one who blew the fireball."

Brielle nodded as she took a small step back, removing her chin from his hand. She wasn't sure whether to leave or stay, but - as she didn't know anyone else in Drakonas except Gemma, and Gemma was busy with the Prefects - she remained where she was.

"Don't worry, she warms up," TJ half-whispered to the second year, who Brielle noticed wore impeccably shiny shoes. His hand remained in the space between them, so Brielle grabbed it and shook it gently. His hands were larger than hers, his skin a bit rougher and grip a bit tighter.

"I'm Jesse," he finished. She looked up to meet his shocking green eyes, the one thing he and Cameron had in common. She didn't want anything to just come out, she needed to filter herself, because if she said what she was feeling -

"Ramos, right?" Brielle sharply asked without heeding her own warning, "The one can't take the fact that Cameron was placed in Voras with Connor." The two of them went silent. She didn't know why she said it; it just happened because she didn't have a conscience when it came to things like these. Her eyes widened as Jesse's emotion on his face didn't change, but his hands clenched into fists. "I'm… I'm sorry."

Jesse gave a small smile, but didn't say anything. He looked like he was going to erupt, but she guessed that she looked so scared that he calmed himself down and simply said, "It's fine." His hand ringed the back of his neck, "I'm sorry for being so snippy in the Hall."

"See, look at this, making progress," TJ quickly intervened with a large, crooked smile. It always seemed to go higher on the one side than it did on the other.

There was a loud, throat-clearing noise, and the students turned to see Marcos standing on top of one of the tables. He waited for everyone to stop talking, which most did, but two kids were still conversing. And quite loudly, too. Marcos cleared his throat again, but they didn't pay attention. He pulled his wand out of his jacket pocket, but Grey held up a hand and pressed the other Prefect's wand down. He pulled his own wand and casted, "_Caput,_" There was a small, gray wisp of smoke from the tip of his wand and a crackling sound, and the two students' heads banged together. He let out a small chuckle and a smirk as the students rubbed their foreheads and stopped talking.

Brielle thought it was a little extreme, but hey, it worked.

"Thank you," Marcos told Grey sarcastically, who gave a small nod and bow. Marcos rolled his eyes and began to make another small speech. "We'll head down to the Banquet. You don't have to sit by squad, but if you want to you can. Ask a lot of questions with each other; maybe you'll find a good friend or two during dinner who'll last." Shaun bumped into Gemma and smiled at her, and she returned it. They probably met at one of the Banquets.

The students looked around, possibly searching for their teams, as Marcos hopped off the table. Brielle didn't know what the deal with standing on things was here, but Marcos was so short that it sort of made sense for him to.

They marched back through the hallways on the same route they'd taken before, but this time, Gemma showed them how to shrink the staircase for when they're in a rush. They just needed to turn one of the horns on Monstro's snout and they were golden. If they were at the bottom, there was a pattern on the wall they had to trace Brielle kept her eyes locked on Jesse, who found himself strolling next to TJ as they navigated through the school. Apparently they had spent four hours or so going through the hallways earlier, because out of the large, cathedral windows, the sun was setting. It was beautiful over the lake; the orange and pink glistened on the water.

Upon entering the Main Hall, the campsites, urn, and four bowls of Vanduo had been removed and were replaced by a large table, which stretched out between each of the house's areas like a plus sign. The campsites had been replaced by four long, squareish tables that were cut out on the inside to fit double the people. There was an opening by one of the corners so people could get onto the inside. The tables didn't look quite large enough to fit all of the members for each house.

The first years approached the Drakonas table cautiously as the Prefects made their way to the middle of the cut out. As the clan of Drakonas grew nearer to the table, it began to grow and chairs began to appear around it. Brielle sat next to TJ, and Jesse plopped himself next to her. She rolled her eyes and turned to face her actual friend until the Prefects began speaking again.

And, again, they stood on a podium thing that was in the middle of the table. She didn't get it…

"Alright," she also didn't understand why Marcos began every statement with _alright_... "Welcome to the Banquet! Just sit back and relax, get to know one another. Make sure you eat up, too. Best food of _year _is during the Banquet."

"'Scuse me," a young first year boy raised his hand honestly and stood up. "I don't mean to be blunt, Mr. Prefect, but what do you suppose we eat when there's no food?"

Marcos seemed to enjoy and dislike the title of _Mr. Prefect _at the same time; he wore an arrogant smirk across his lips but also furrowed his brow. "Just wait, kid."

Just then, a small, elf-like creature came crawling out from under one of the tables, popping up in the middle of the criss-crossed layout. It wore nothing but rags as it looked around, but said nothing. Some of the kids didn't notice; if they did, they weren't letting on that it was there. Brielle watched the creature walk around the tables cautiously, rubbing its hands in one another. It seemed…nervous, almost. It rounded the table's end between the Voras and Ara campsites, the table pointing south. As it neared, she could make out huge, musty yellow eyes to match the musty yellow cloth he wore.

"Vergas," Gemma called across the room, and the thing's head snapped up in her direction, eyes wide. He relaxed at her smile and stumbled over cautiously.

"Vergas is trying to prepare for the feast, Miss Wilkins," the thing smiled in return as he gave a small bow to the Prefect on the table. She nodded once, and he returned to his upright state. Its ears sticking out to the side and his feeble arms and legs flailing about, the small creature tried to jump onto the pedestal, too. It took a minute or two, but when he did, Grey greeted him with some sort of handshake.

"TJ," Brielle patted his arm as he turned from a conversation with the person next to him. The creature was kind of cute when she looked at it; its face was babyish, like TJ's, but more so, "TJ, what is that?"

"A house elf," he said simply with a small smile and turned back to his conversation. She rolled her eyes at how he talked to everyone and then looked at the little elf once more. Jesse cleared his throat and explained to her what a house elf was exactly; they were basically little servants to their masters until given clothes.

"Thanks," she mumbled and watched the elf be greeted by the remaining Prefects. Jesse let a deep breath escape his nose, and she rolled her eyes and ignored him. He did it again, and she turned to him sharply.

"Would you _please_?" she asked pointedly.

"Look," he responded quietly. He had a serious but kind expression on his face as he spoke, "I didn't mean to offend you before. Connor and his family are jerks to mine, so you can see why I didn't like him fancying my sister in his house." Brielle nodded and replied that she appreciated his apology. She gave him one of her own.

"I'm sorry, too," she said, also in a hushed tone, "that I snapped at you. Connor and I… have a history...as well." She didn't need him knowing that she was a foster kid because he seemed like the kind of guy who would hold that against her. "I haven't seen him since I was a child so I don't know why I was bent out of shape about it."

"We could at least try to be friends, here," Jesse gave a small smile, "I mean, I know you're not a social person, but I push people away too, so maybe we could work." Brielle gave a small breath from her nose, thinking _that's the most true statement I've heard all day_. She agreed that they should try to be friends, but in the back of her mind was wondering why he'd want to be friends with _her._ No matter, though; this way, she could be friends with a student from another year as well as TJ, _and_ keep in touch with Cameron. Maybe. They left the conversation at that as Brielle tuned back into the discussion between the house elf Vergas and Gemma. The elf seemed to speak in the third person, which was a tad curious.

"What does Miss Wilkins require from Vergas?" he asked hastily as Gemma sat on the ledge thing. They were about the same height when the elf remained standing and Gemma sat down. She smiled at Vergas, then at the crowd of first years, who all managed to stay on one part of the table.

"Here's the new ones," she explained, and Vergas jumped down from the one table where the Prefects were and onto the other one that the first years were seated at. He walked among the students over the tables and things, shaking each first year's hand and skipping the rest. Shaun went to move towards the elf, but Gemma held him back. He eyed her with a warning look, but when she whispered something to him, he sat down next to her, though he still looked stressed and kept a keen eye on the elf. Vergas introduced himself to each child as they did the same, and when he finally got to Brielle, he paused.

"Vergas knows who this is," he said as he waddled closer to her face. She leaned back, but he kept moving forward. His abnormally large eyes narrowed and sank into hers as she admired the cool, decrepit yellow. "This is Brielle, Vergas knows. Brielle Hawkins. What is Miss Hawkins doing at Aboriginal?"

Brielle's jaw locked as she began to shake. The tiny creature didn't physically scare her; it was the mental factor that did. How did he already know who she was? She'd never even seen a house elf before. For that matter, how'd _anyone _here already know who she was? Other than her "performance" at the housing, no one should've known. She should've been a nobody, like all the other first years. "Miss Hawkins should not be here," Vergas added, "Miss Hawkins is supposed to still be at Continental. Miss Hawkins - "

"Vergas," a loud and now recognizable voice commanded as footsteps grew near. Brielle's shaky eyes flickered up to Shaun, who was standing over the two of them. He grabbed Vergas by his rags and pulled him away, allowing her to sit up straight. All eyes were on her once again as Shaun whispered something harshly to the elf. He put him on the table roughly, and Vergas hunkered down and sulked away, continuing to greet first years.

"What's 'Continental'?" TJ's voice made Brielle jump off her seat, and he jerked backwards. His hands shot up in surrender, and she began to shiver again. She shook her head back and forth as her eyes squeezed shut. Continental was her orphanage; how did Vergas know about that? They didn't have house elves there, she could be sure of that. "Whoa, I'm sorry. It's okay." TJ snapped her out of her thoughts as she opened her eyes. He put a hand on her arm, and she shook her head slowly.

"How…" she stammered, but didn't really know what to say, "I… I don't..."

"Shh," TJ soothingly shushed her, his eyes sad and kind at the same time. He may have been one of those social people - and a guy - but he was more sensitive than most she'd met. He put an arm around her shoulder, and she jumped at his touch, but then relaxed. Although they'd only known each other for a few hours, she felt that he was brother-like and was very comfortable around him. "What's got you all shaken?" She answered by moving her eyes up to meet his, which now changed from blue to brown. Brielle leaned her head on his shoulder and could feel him give a small smile, then they both faced the Prefects again. Vergas had finished introducing himself, and Shaun was now herding him off and away from the students. When he returned to Gemma's side, as he always seemed to be, they began to have a little spat. Marcos began to talk over them to the first years, but all Brielle could pay attention to was their argument. Her head moved from TJ's shoulder as she focused more on them.

"He was only being kind," Gemma began, "He didn't mean to - "

"He's not supposed to do that, Gemmavaile!" Shaun whisper-yelled at her. She shrank back at his tone, but he continued, "Abbey told us not to let him near her."

"Yes, but - "

"No, no buts," he growled, "I told you, I _told _you, he'd do it."

"I'm sorry, Shaun, I - " Gemma looked over the angry boy's shoulder at Brielle, who was staring wide-eyed at them. She swallowed hard as Shaun turned and looked at her, his expression heated. It softened a bit, and he opened his mouth as if he was going to say something to the first year, but then he turned back to Gemma. She was brushing past him quickly and moving towards the first year, He grabbed her arm, but she yanked it away, turning back to him angrily. "Shaun," she spat, and he stopped. "She's a kid."

Gemma eyed him up and down, then turned on her heel and approached Brielle. She got down on one knee and gave a small, uneasy smile. "I have to take you to the Headmistress now," she told her, and the younger girl nodded absentmindedly. She stood and followed the Prefect, not turning to look rearward at the many eyes that were obviously on her. She could feel their glares searing into her back as she walked. After exiting the Main Hall, they walked through the never-ending corridor until they reached a long, wide staircase. "We have to go the long way, since her other office is under fumigation."

"What does she have?"

"Pixies," she said naturally, as if there wasn't strange to fumigate for pixies.

As they climbed the large staircase, Gemma began to speak about the school a little more, telling her about the forest in the east and how all of the professors would be lenient about being late to class during the beginning of the year, other than the Ara head, Professor Howe.

"He hates Drakonas, especially Shaun because of his family," she explained as they reached the top, "It's like he's mad at Shaun for being housed in Drakonas rather than Ara, as if it was his choice." Gemma led her down a narrow hallway next, leading to a bridge that went outside. She looked down at the younger girl as she walked. "You really don't say much, do you?"

Brielle shook her head and kept her eyes forward. It wasn't that she didn't have an interest in speaking to the Prefect, but she didn't have anything to say. Well, except that she _was _curious about her and Shaun… She debated asking about it and thought it'd be a bad idea due to their argument in the Main Hall, but when Gemma's hand raised to a heart-shaped locket around her neck and began to play with it, her curiosity got the better of her.

"What is Shaun to you?" Brielle blurted out, and Gemma froze mid-step. She looked down at Brielle and raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you didn't say much," she mumbled with tight lips and kept walking slowly. She let out a breath as Brielle shrugged.

"I'm curious," the first year added as she began to walk backwards in front of the Prefect.

Gemma's head cocked to the side as the brisk wind hit their skin. She looked out beyond the bridge and Brielle saw the school from the outside for the first time. It was a large, brown, stone castle, much like the other schools Evan had told her about, though this one had a different...feel? She guessed it was the feel… It was larger than Evan had explained; she could count eleven different sections of the castle, though it seemed like there were more that she couldn't quite see. The roofs were a darker brown than the stone, like Gemma's hair, and always seemed to come to a point in the middle, even when the base wasn't a cylindrical shape. She was right about the river; it was directly below the bridge and ran parallel beneath it, flooding directly into the castle. When it hit the stone wall, though, it dropped off into a waterfall below the building.

"You're going to fall," Gemma interrupted her thoughts, and Brielle turned back around to fall into step with the older girl. She let out a deep sigh and asked. "What do you mean, 'what is he' to me?

"For example, is he your friend, like a brother," she paused and looked up, "maybe your boyfriend?"

"Boyfriend?" she shouted with a slight laugh, "No, absolutely not. I mean…" she stopped herself and her smile disappeared, "Shaun is difficult to understand. He's my best friend… We've been like that for six years now. I just don't know if he wants to be something more."

"Do you want to be?"

She let that settle in for a while as Brielle kept her eyes locked on the Prefect. Gemma's hand rubbed over her face as her muffled voice said, "I can't believe I'm having this conversation with an eleven year old."

"Evan tells I'm very nice to talk to," she said matter-of-factly, "Like I'm an adult trapped in a girl's body." It wasn't so much one-on-one talking that Brielle had an issue with; it was when she was in front of a big crowd and talking to someone, even if she wasn't talking to the whole crowd. But being alone with someone and knowing others couldn't hear her… that was alright.

"Evan?" Gemma asked and raised her eyebrows again. Brielle rolled her eyes and thought _here we go_, "As in Evan Madrack, the Potions professor?" Brielle nodded and sighed. "You've spoken to him?"

"He's my…" Brielle paused at the word _foster_, not sure whether to add it or not. She chose not to, as she didn't need another reason for kids to stare and think she was weird. She already had the whole fire-spitting and house-elf-interrogation thing going for her. "He's my brother."

Gemma seemed to be taken aback by this, but she continued like it wasn't strange. In fact, Brielle thought it _wasn't _strange, though she guessed that since Evan was _the_ teacher, it took a little while to think he could have a younger sibling. "But why…?" Gemma stopped herself and shook her head.

"Back to _our _conversation?" Brielle edged her towards answering her original question.

"Yes, well…" Gemma said and took the confused look off her face, but her mind still seemed lost, "I'm sorry, what was the question?"

They finished their walk across the bridge, Gemma venting to Brielle about how Shaun can be "so indecisive" and how he "lashes out too much", but he is also "oh too sweet" and "protective of her like a brother". Brielle didn't particularly enjoy this kind of conversation, but Gemma looked like she needed someone to talk to and she was always open for listening.

"Right, then," Gemma interrupted herself as they finished going across a wide field. There was a small, cabin-like building on this side with a tiny brass door. Literally, _tiny._ The cabin door was about three feet tall by three feet wide, and they had to squat down to reach the door. Gemma knocked twice, and then three times, and then twice again, and the door opened a minute or two later to another small elf. "Hello, Rufus."

"Rufus was taking a nap, Miss Wilkins," this elf's voice as very low, but he seemed to have a child-like demeanor. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands and gave a small sniffle. "What is it that Miss Wilkins needs?"

"I need you to patch me through to Headmistress Lofaro," she said, and moved out of the way so the elf could see Brielle. He eyed her warily, and then, seeming to realize who she was, nodded. But how could that be if she herself didn't know?

"Come," he said and opened the door. Gemma got on her hands and knees and crawled in, but Brielle raised an eyebrow. How was it that she actually fit through the door, let alone inside the house? Rufus's head popped back out a moment later. "Well?" he asked, and Brielle swallowed. She let out a breath and crawled through the doorway, and soon realized why Gemma had fit. The house was absolutely _giant_; five or so stories high and marble everywhere.

"Rufus just remodeled," he declared proudly with his hands on his waist. He, too, wore stingy rags for clothes. Brielle wondered why the elves didn't take something they found on the floor or why the Headmistress didn't give them better clothes. "Rufus put up marble and Vergas helped with the stairs, he did."

The tiny house elf made his way to a large fireplace with a black cauldron of Floo powder. Gemma followed close behind, but Brielle took her time. No way all this could fit in the tiny 3x3x4 foot house, but it somehow did. "Rufus thinks Miss Hawkins should follow him," the elf said without turning around. He peeked over his shoulder and gave a small smile.

Brielle stopped her gawking and mindlessly followed Gemma towards the fireplace. "Password?" Gemma asked, and Rufus let out a small breath.

"Mandrake Madness," the elf responded and eyed both of the girls. "Rufus should remind you," he added as Gemma's hand filled with Floo powder, "not to say the password until necessary and to say the password quietly so no others can hear." He looked around, as if people were listening in already, and stepped close to Brielle. He yanked on her shoulder and she leaned in roughly. His large musty eye caught her own dull one and he whispered, "Rufus assumes Miss Hawkins will be careful, he does. Miss Hawkins knows - "

"Rufus!" Gemma said and knocked his head away rather harshly. He grabbed the side of his head and backed away with narrowed eyes, but remained by the side of the fireplace. "You first, Brielle. Come on now, say, 'Sede Abbey' as you throw it."

Brielle stepped warily into the place, and Gemma put her handful of powder back as the first year grabbed her own. She didn't like the Floo network the first time, so she probably wouldn't like it the second, either…

"Sede Abbey," she repeated clearly as she tossed the powder. Again, there was a shock of light and a swarm of heat around her body, yet she lurched out of the other side unharmed. She had to find her glasses again, though, and this time it was tougher without Connor there to help.

Next, with a loud whoosh, Gemma came steadily from the fireplace. She stepped out and a _crack _went through Brielle's ears. She let out a sigh and sat on her bum, her hand outstretched. She didn't have to see Gemma to know that she'd landed on her glasses. She decided she'd get goggles for whenever she traveled through Floo.

"I've got it," Gemma said quite cheerfully (not to Brielle's surprise) and handed the glasses back. Brielle placed them back on her face as the Prefect pulled her wand.

"_Oculus Reparo_," she commanded, and, like they had with Connor, the glasses fixed themselves. She really needed to remember that spell…

Or get contacts.

"_Stiprus_," Gemma caught Brielle off guard by casting another spell at her. She jumped back, but it had already hit her glasses. They began to heat up, but then they cooled back down. "There," she smiled and resheathed her wand, "Try them. Go ahead, give it a go."

Brielle raised an eyebrow, but removed her glasses. She examined them by turning them over in her hands and watching them closely. Nothing seemed to be out of place… She looked up at Gemma's blurry, smiling face. "Throw them." Her eyes shot from the lenses to the Prefect, but she wasn't joking. Why not…?

She took them in her hand and chucked them towards the wall, which they hit. It _sounded _like they broke, but it didn't _look _like they broke. She picked them up and replaced them one her face. No dents, no bruises, no chips. She smiled up at Gemma, who was triumphantly knocking on the Headmistress's door, pretending like she hadn't just seen or done anything. She whispered, "Mandrake Madness," and put her hand to her side.

Two seconds later, the tall, black haired Headmistress strode from the doorway and shook Gemma's hand, then Brielle's. She dismissed Gemma and led the first year into her office. The Headmistress motioned for Brielle to sit, which she did at the chair in front of the large desk. The chair was wooden and not very comfortable, but this was where kids went when they were in trouble; why _would _the chairs be comfy?

Headmistress Lofaro sat at the chair on the other side, which seemed much more comfortable. It was a large, black plush chair with mahogany around the edges; it almost matched her hair perfectly, which now was pulled back into a tight pony tail. She stirred the tea on her matching mahogany desk and looked at the student with either wonderment or trouble in her eyes; Brielle couldn't tell which.

"Um… Headmistress?" Brielle asked, interrupting their seemingly game of silence, "Did… Did I do something wrong?"

"_Wrong_?" the Headmistress almost seemed to spit her tea across the room. "Heavens, why do you think you did something wrong?"

A huge weight lifted off Brielle's shoulders as she let out a breath. She couldn't help but give a small smile too, though she knew she shouldn't until she knew why she was there.

"No, my dear, you're not in any sort of trouble," she continued with a small but uncomfortable smile of her own, "And please, no need for _Headmistress_. You can call me Professor Lofaro or just Professor."

This warm, happy woman was different from the harshly expressed one who stood on the luggage. The other woman seemed stern and very strict, meanwhile this one resembled a cheerful, graceful witch who was glad to be headmistress. It was a definite change, which scared Brielle. She never did well with change, especially when someone's personality changed. Because that usually meant they were trying to hide something.

Professor Lofaro let out a sigh and took the smile off her face, which looked forced anyways. "I'm sorry," she said, "You're not in trouble, but I don't do well with euphoria unless it's genuine and this first week is going to be very tedious and stressful." Brielle mouthed the word _euphoria_ and stared at the woman, wondering how old she was. Up close, she looked even younger than before. Had she said she'd been headmistress for _seven _years after college? Did she say she graduated at _twenty? _That was pretty young. She was about two years older than Evan, then.

"Miss Hawkins?" The Headmistress snapped her fingers in front of the young girl and looked at her closely, "Are you alright?"

Brielle swallowed and nodded quickly, "Quite." They stared at each other for a little while until the Professor broke it.

"You don't say much do you?"

She shook her head.

"Surprising, considering how much your family likes to chat. Especially Evan," a small smile peeked on her lips, "He's a delight, that one. Always making jokes and keeping kids from trouble."

_Not her too, _Brielle thought and frowned. "Professor," she said meekly, seeming to snap the woman out of her thoughts, "If you don't mind my asking, what _am _I doing here if I'm not in trouble?"

The Headmistress stood and put her hands behind her back. She strode to the farthest wall and gazed out a window that Brielle hadn't noticed was there. Looking into the now fading daylight, she said, "I wanted to talk to you about your housing…" Brielle nodded as the professor turned to the girl, "Would you like a drink or something? The walk here was probably a hike, my apologies." Brielle shook her head and the woman shrugged. "Alright then."

"Really, Professor," she tried not to sound too abrupt, "I just want to know more about the fire."

All she did was look out the window. Brielle began to lose her patience but told herself to remain calm. The professor glared at something afar, and the girl realized she was looking at the river. "Strange, isn't it?" Professor Lofaro wondered aloud, "The water runs through the castle but we haven't found where it enters yet. It's not in the castle anywhere."

"Professor - "

"Of course, no one has looked much."

"Headmistress - "

"Maybe we should search more. I'm sure Harvey - "

"Professor!" Brielle boomed, almost as loudly as she'd been that morning when Evan moved too slowly. The Headmistress turned quickly to face the girl with zero emotion on her face; Brielle shook in fear, as she hadn't meant to be so rude but wanted her to get to the point. She sure didn't seem so… distracted… during the rest of the day.

"I...I'm sorry," she stammered. Her face burned red as she shrunk back in her seat.

"Oh, It's quite alright," Professor Lofaro said kindly, but without expression on her face. "I know you'd like to know more about the flame." She paused and leaned against the window, but then pushed off and retreated to her desk. "To be perfectly forthright, I cannot tell you all of the details. I can, however, share a few things.

"I've seen something like this before, an exaggerated housing. It was the first time in history Aboriginal had seen something of the sorts. He was a first year like yourself, in Drakonas. Last year, actually. I believe you two are connected, what with the…" she trailed off, as if she was about to say something she shouldn't have. She picked back up quickly, but the pause was still noticeable. "Yes, he was quite the show for the students and for myself, I may add-"

_Professor, please,_ Brielle thought as she began to become impatient. She didn't care what the woman was going to say before she trailed off; the only thing in her mind now was _who was it?_

"-spectacular when he even made Keeper as a _first _year. Unheard of, for a first year to make the _Drakonas _Quidditch team, you know."

"Professor," Brielle asked, fighting to hold back an eye roll at how she was dragging this out, "Who was he?"

"Jesse, Jesse Ramos."


	5. Classes and Some Bad Professors

**SO how's everyone's day going? Good? No? Well alright...**

**I hope you like the book so far, I've been working on it for a while and I'm glad it's getting a bunch of reads. Please be sure to comment and favorite and follow, y'all :) See you later and take care:D**

**Chapter 4**

"So he did the same thing?" TJ asked quietly in the common room, "The fire? Why didn't he tell you?"

"That's…" Brielle said between mouthfuls of food. She was back to the Main Hall halfway through the Banquet, but she hadn't been able to eat no matter how spectacular the feast was. And now she was paying for it. "...That's what Lofaro told me. And who knows? Jesse doesn't seem overly… chatty."

"That makes two of you," he laughed with his goofy smile. She looked around the common room and spotted Jesse across the way. He was talking to one of his third or fourth year buddies and was listening to what seemed like a joke. His bright green eyes were squinted tight with laughter, but they were still visible. He turned his head towards Brielle, then did a double take. He was still laughing, but not as hard, and gave a small wave. She turned her head quickly and faced TJ again with pinked cheeks. He gave her a raised eyebrow and a smirk as he stole a piece of chocolate from her basket. She smiled.

"What?" she demanded jocularly. TJ raised both eyebrows as he chewed the piece of toffee, and dropped his eyes. She shoved his arm as he put his hands up in surrender. "_What?_"

He stopped and looked up at Brielle's beaming face. "You're so socially challenged."

She chewed on a piece of peppermint as she scrunched her lips to the side. "Yes, I know." She glanced back at Jesse, who was still talking to his friend. "I just want to know more about it."

TJ cleared his throat and made a cocky smile. "I got this." Brielle's eyes widened as he brashly grabbed a piece of chocolate and stood up. He began to walk towards Jesse and the anxious girl shrank into her seat as she watched. TJ walked up to the second and fourth years, and he brought back both of them after a moment or two of conversation.

"Brielle," Jesse said with a smile as he plopped down right next to her. She rolled her eyes and moved further away from him. "This is Mickey, Marcos's brother." He sat on the chair across from the two, near TJ's new seat, as Jesse took TJ's previous one. Mickey reached for a piece of the candy that was there, but at Brielle's glare retreated without food. She smiled to herself as she pushed a piece of hair from her face and behind her ear. She pulled all of her long, auburn hair back into a tight but messy bun, as Gemma wore hers, then pushed her glasses further onto her freckled nose as she peered at the chatting boys. TJ and Mickey were talking about classes and things while Jesse was just sitting, watching Brielle.

"So," he asked and crossed a leg over his other one, "what is it you wanted to talk with me about?"

"I… um…" she stammered, but then remembered Gemma's advice on the way back from the Headmistress's office. She had said that the best way to get over a social problem was to "engulf yourself in conversations" and "go outside your comfort zone", because, this way, she would "get used to what it was like to talk to others". Brielle took a deep breath and swallowed.

"Well, will you tell me about your housing last year?"

"Housing?" he let out a short breath, "Obviously I was placed in Drakonas by that disgusting Vanduo. Other schools just use a sorting _hat, _which sounds less painful than drinking gross water riddled with spells and charms, then choking and nearly suffocating and making the noise of your house. Except you," he said and cocked his head to the side. His leg kicked back onto the floor as he crossed his arms and sat up a little straighter. "You took it a bit further, huh?"

"It's to my knowledge that you did the same thing," she let the words fly quietly, but they were heard by everyone sitting around the table of sweets. Mickey paused and looked Brielle up and down blankly while TJ tried to distract him. Jesse, on the other hand, had an expression that was anything but blank. His bright green eyes looked enraged as he leaned forward to get closer to the girl without moving from his spot.

"And," his voice got really quiet, and it was a bit spooky, "who exactly told you this?"

"Th-the… The Headmis-mistress," Brielle stammered as she leaned backwards, but there was nowhere else for her to go. She was already at the arm of the couch, "Gemma took me to see her before the Banquet, remember? She told me that you had spit fire, as well, and - "

"Absolutely not," his voice began to become louder again as his brow furrowed. Once a smile, his lips curled into a scowl, "I didn't do anything like that. I'm not some… some freak."

Brielle shrank back at the word she was oh-so familiar with. Switching schools once every few months, she had never fit in correctly with the other kids, and they used to call her weird and a freak all the time. She just never imagined she'd hear it here, where everyone was like her.

_So much for being friends._

"She…" Brielle squeaked, "she said something about us being... connected."

"_Connected?_" Jesse spat, more harshly than she assumed he intended to, but who knew? He seemed easily angered and was _not _happy at the moment, "What do you mean, _connected?_"

"I"m not sure," she said a bit more confidently, but still quietly.

"Is there an issue here, Mister Ramos?" a higher pitched voice cut into their conversation. A short, middle aged woman was standing behind the sofa. She had her muscular arms crossed over her chest as she tapped her foot on the ground. Jesse and Brielle looked up at the blonde, whose hair was pulled back into a tight pony tail. Around her brown eyes was a small nose and thin, pale lips. Brielle recognized her as -

"Professor Dekél," Jesse greeted the head of Drakonas. He looked like he was trying to suppress his anger. "No, no problem at all. Right, Brielle?"

The Professor turned to Brielle, who sat up and straightened out her purple and green tie subconsciously. She locked her jaw and swallowed as she shook her head.

"Hmmph," Dekél made a sound and turned on her heel, finishing her stroll through the common room and leaving the corridor through the dragon's mouth. Brielle turned back to Jesse wide-eyed.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly and moved a little closer. Brielle wished there was somewhere for her to move away to, but none that wouldn't be very obvious. "I have a bit of a rage problem."

"You think?" Mickey sounded. Brielle jumped; she forgot he and TJ were even there. "Dude, you're scaring her senseless." She swallowed a large lump in her throat as Jesse's cheeks hollowed. He looked back at the girl, who hoped he would leave soon.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to call you a freak," Jesse said as Brielle glared at him. She didn't move, and he let out a small, sorry breath.

Mickey apologized for his "friend's anger management issues" and decided that they'd "hit the sheets". He pulled Jesse along, but the anger-infused boy shook free from his friend's grasp. He turned back to Brielle like he was going to say something, but then put his hands in his pockets and followed Mickey back to the first to fourth year dormitory.

"Wow," TJ said and chewed on another piece of chocolate. Brielle stared at the ground, wishing she'd never asked about the fire. "He's… well… that did _not _go as planned."

Brielle rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile at the kid. He just made everything into a joke. He smiled, too. "What?"

"I'm going to bed," Brielle said without answering him and stood from the plush purple couch, "Don't get on too much of a sugar high. We've got classes tomorrow."

TJ smirked and "made no promises". She stood and stumbled into the dormitory on the left, feeling a bit of a sugar rush herself. She made her way to her bed and pet Péleda on the beak. She hopped into her bunk after changing into her pajamas and brushing her teeth, then slept for a good hour. She just couldn't fall back to sleep after that, so she decided to go see if TJ was still awake.

Maybe it was more than an hour, because when she'd gone to sleep, there were probably thirty students in the common room. She'd gone to bed at around 9:30, and now there were only a few students left, most of them older and writing essays or letters and things. Classes haven't even started and all of them already looked swamped. She then spotted two familiar people with their backs to her. About to talk to them, she thought better of it because they looked like they were having an intense conversation. Brielle walked up to the pillar by their chairs and stood behind it, peeking out around it to see if she could hear them. And she could.

"Relax," Shaun's voice whispered as he placed a hand on Gemma's elbow. Brielle could see them, but hopefully they wouldn't be able to see her. "We're going to be fine."

"Shaun," Gemma's voice sounded strained, more so than when Brielle had asked what Shaun is to her, "she's back and Brielle is a living embodiment of her. She's - "

Brielle suddenly wished she hadn't been able to hear them.

"Don't talk like that," Shaun cut her off and moved closer, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear. Even in the faint light, Brielle could see her cheeks turn bright pink. But forgetting about Gemma's _feelings_, as she'd called them, she wondered why Gemma was so stressed about Brielle being at the school.

"With her here, she'll surely find the school - "

"Stop." Gemma did as she was told, and Shaun stared intently at the girl, his pitch black eyes probably searing into hers. He gave her a small smile and put an arm around her shoulder. She laid her head on his bicep and he put a hand on her head, the hair on top of which dark and messy under her beanie. Brielle assumed it was Shaun's from the looks of his hair, but he was letting her wear it. His light brown hair was stuck upwards in the front, which seemed to be the trend for him, though the back was really messy.

He pressed his thick framed glasses up on his nose and took the beanie off her head, pressing his lips gently to where it once was. Brielle couldn't help but gag a little, and she let out a quiet but audible choking noise. Shaun's head shot up and Brielle ducked back behind the pillar, hoping he hadn't seen her. She could hear Gemma ask what was wrong, but Shaun didn't answer. After about two minutes, Brielle peeked her head back out to see if they were paying attention, but Gemma was asleep on top of Shaun's arm, and Shaun was paying too much attention to Gemma to notice Brielle's presence.

She scurried from behind the pillar and back to the room undetected, though she couldn't help but wonder what they were talking about when Gemma said _"With her here, she'll surely find the school." _Brielle knew who the _her _was, but...

Who was the _she_?

The next day was absolutely hectic. People were scurrying everywhere around the school with schedules in hand, trying to find their way to classes. The hallway that the Prefects had led them down apparently was not the only major hallway in the school, though it seemed long enough to be. TJ and Brielle stuck together for their classes, as it was easier to stick together than get lost individually.

For classes this year, the rules had changed and apparently first years would only be learning with other first years, not seconds and thirds, too. Brielle was a bit bummed out, but happy at the same time, as this meant that she wouldn't have to hear Jesse and Connor bicker until flying lessons. First through third years were supposed to take flying lessons, though Brielle wasn't sure why seconds and thirds would need them. Then again, they all couldn't be in Drakonas.

There were two houses per class, and it wasn't always the same combination. For Herbology and Astronomy, the Drakonas house was mixed with Ara. Brielle instantly saw what Marcos had meant by Ara getting in the way. None of them ever paid attention and spent most of their time before and after class singing, and during class doodling and drawing with their quills. Professor Rikki Dekél, who was the Herbology teacher, stopped every time she noticed a student doodling (which was quite often) and waited for them to notice (which took ages). The Astronomy teacher, Professor Gale Lewis, didn't seem to mind and just kept teaching, but didn't repeat things because "if you don't pay attention, I don't really care, but it's on you when testing comes around".

Raposo was by far the most fun to be in a class with. They were in Charms with Professor Noah Morrison - the head of Voras - and Hunter Boyle kept chewing gum that made him sound like different animals when Morrison turned around. He'd whip back to face the class angrily, but Hunter would simply close his mouth and the sounds would cease. In the History of Magic, Arnold Baker sent several paper birds flying around the room with different messages for people, most earning snickers and laughs from his classmates. In Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Delanie Yule was walking the aisles when she passed Benji Graves, who quickly ate a piece of chocolate that made him appear as the professor. He stood and began to pace close behind her, mimicking her actions and words as if there were two of her; which, obviously, there was. The class would begin to laugh, and she would stop pacing and peer around the room, but never behind her. When she finally caught on, though, she laughed, too. Of course she would - she _was _the head of Raposo, after all.

While Raposo was the most fun, Voras was the least. They really hated the Drakonas house. Some of the first year Voras students tended to sleep in class, Cameron not being one of them. When they weren't sleeping, they weren't exactly paying attention. They were usually picking on Drakonas kids, who were trying to listen to the teachers. They did the same in Potions with Evan, but he didn't seem to care.

"If they want to sleep or not pay attention, by all means let them," he'd said along the same lines as Professor Lewis, "but it's not my fault if their hair 'accidentally' catches fire when we heat the cauldrons, or slug guts 'accidentally' spill on them." He gave the class a wink, and then continued on with his lecture.

The only time when every student was listening was Flying Lessons with Scott Padral. There were more than just the first years in this class, but there weren't as many students. Flying Lessons and lunch were apparently interchangeable, so half of the students from each year took flying while the other half ate lunch, and then they switched. Unfortunately, Jesse was in Brielle's class, as was Connor, and as was Cameron.

"This should be good," TJ whispered, obviously spotting the same group as Brielle had. Connor and Cameron stood rather close to each other, which seemed to rub Jesse the wrong way. His new friend, whose name Brielle didn't know, held Jesse's arm, clearly holding him back from ripping something of Connor's out of him. Cameron smiled at Brielle and TJ as the professor began speaking.

"Welcome, first years, to Flying," he spoke with confidence as he peered across the crowd of students. There were slightly more than in the other classes, despite half from each house being at lunch. "Third and second years, welcome back. Here's how this will work." He began to pace in front of the line of kids, and some third years rolled their eyes. "Third years will help me teach the first years, and second years, you will review your skills and perfect your flying mechanics. Understood?" The students all groaned and tiredly said _yes_, and he clapped his hands.

The professor taught the students how to command and mount their brooms, and the third years kicked off the ground and flew above the others. Second years performed each step the Professor said easily, while first years struggled to even get their brooms off the ground. TJ and Brielle got theirs up quickly, as did some other Drakonas, but it took the Voras first years a few tries. The second years did it easily and some helped other students.

Connor stood next to Cameron and took her hand, "correcting her technique". Jesse, who was watching carefully, gritted his teeth and restrained himself from storming over there. When Cameron thanked him and he pushed a piece of hair behind her ear, Jesse lost it. He threw the broom to the ground and began to storm across the field when his friend flew down and in front of him, blocking his path. Jesse began to yell at him, but he wouldn't let him through.

Brielle could see how flying lessons were going to go this year…

After Jesse calmed down and retreated to his place with his broom, he kicked off the ground and flew into the air, staying close to his friend. Professor Padral didn't seem to notice he'd gone. Once the rest of the first years were ready, the professor showed them how to kick off, hover, and steer. It was easy for Brielle, who the professor praised, but it seemed difficult for the others, even those in Drakonas.

"Why don't you join the second years in the air?" Professor Padral suggested kindly as the rest of the second years kicked off and joined the thirds, "Try out your control." Brielle nodded and flew a bit higher, though her grip was shaky. She looked around for anyone who she knew, but the only ones were either Connor or Jesse. She wanted to talk to Connor, but with all Jesse's done so far, Brielle didn't want to show that she used to be friends with him. She flew over to Jesse and his friend, who were chatting quietly.

"Jesse," Brielle said as she flew up, and both stopped talking and looked at her with wide eyes. She raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You can fly?" his friend asked curiously and Brielle nodded.

"Evan taught me to hover and a little bit of broom control at home," she explained, "but only a bit." They both nodded, taking that in like she'd just said she was a trained professional. She looked down at the ground to the other first years and spotted a fiery-haired boy strolling up to Professor Padral. She recognized him as Marcos.

"I'm Brian," Jesse's friend said and held a hand out. Brielle shook it as she tried to balance on her broom and introduced herself, but kept her eyes to the ground. Both Jesse and Brian followed her gaze, and Jesse's face lit up.

"What's he doing here?" Jesse asked with a smile. Maybe they were good friends. She had seen them talking in the common room this morning and at breakfast, so it was entirely possible. Jesse flew down happily to greet the Quidditch captain, and Brian just kind of looked at Brielle.

"What?" she asked as the boy glared at her. He shrugged, and she looked back at the ground.

Soon enough, Marcos flew back up with Jesse to meet the other two. They relaxed on their brooms, but Brielle couldn't bring herself to loosen her grip.

"First year hovering so high already?" Marcos asked as he looked Brielle up and down, "Haven't seen that in a while, even from Drakonas."

"Not true," Jesse said matter-of-factly, "I was hovering last year before everyone else."

"That's why we made you keeper," Marcos recalled, "But I meant a _girl,_ last one I saw was Gemma and I hadn't even been on the Quidditch team yet. Can you control yourself?"

Brielle shrugged and kept her eyes to the ground, but then remembered that she wanted to "branch out". She had an internal argument with herself, one part saying that she'd "already made friends", but the other half saying "he's the captain of the Quidditch team". She looked back up at the three older kids staring at her, waiting for her to answer.

"I can try…" she stammered, and Marcos smiled and pulled his wand from his coat pocket. He waved it a bit, and before him appeared a baseball and a wooden bat. It looked like the one Brielle used at home when Larissa tried to get her involved in Muggle sports, which really hadn't worked out too well. She played baseball for a season as the best batter on the team, but the boys who played didn't appreciate her being on their team and bullied her into leaving. Marcos handed her the bat, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"What is this for?"

He chuckled and said, "To hit the baseball with, of course." She took the bat, which was just her size, and examined it. She hadn't even realized she wasn't holding the broom anymore. "I want to test something." Brielle's eyes examined his face, which was contorted into some odd type of smile. Jesse's eyes narrowed and brow furrowed.

"Marcos," he warned, "don't."

He glared at the American, who stared right back. "She'd be perfect. None of the older girls have an interest in being on the team. Anyways, Dekél wants another young one."

"She's just a first year for this test, though," he growled.

"As were you."

"All I had to do was hover and catch, not hit."

"But you _were _a first year." That seemed to shut Jesse up. "Go long." Marcos ignored Jesse's anger as he threw the ball far. There had to be _some _sort of charm on it; it went further than even the professionals could throw. She looked back at Marcos, then to the ball and realized she should probably follow it. Her eyes widened and she raced through the sky. She caught up to the red-laced ball pretty quickly, and even got ahead of it. It was just about to start coming down as Brielle whipped around and smacked the ball hard. She grinned as it flew back towards Marcos.

What did Jesse know? She could do anything he did last year, and better. Brielle followed the ball again and got back to Marcos after about a minute. She didn't go as fast this time, as she didn't feel it was necessary, and relaxed on her broom. When she approached, he smiled with the baseball in hand, and Jesse actually didn't look angry; he looked content.

"Why did I have to do that?" she asked with a bit of a smile. He gave a smirk.

"I think you should come try out for the Quidditch team this year. You'd be a good beater, like Professor Madrack was when he played." The bat and ball disappeared, and Marcos gave Jesse a shove and Brielle a smile, then flew back to the ground. Brielle's eyes went to Jesse, who looked half-happy and half-worried.

"Nicely done," Brian smiled, "you've got good broom control."

"Thanks," she whispered, but kept her eyes on Jesse. He looked at her intently, like he was going to say something, but then the professor called the students back down. They retreated from the air, some reluctantly and some gladly, until they hit the ground. Brielle joined TJ again as Jesse walked off with Brian.

"You're really good!" TJ exclaimed to the girl, "You've got to try out for the team this year, Brielle, you've got to. I don't think I've ever seen a rookie so good."

Brielle gave a small smile as they walked back indoors, making their way to the Main Hall. The two ate lunch, Brielle quicker than TJ because she was anxious and nervous about the whole Quidditch team thing. She didn't know if she wanted to play her first year here, she'd never really flown before today; just hovered.

"You alright?" TJ asked and nudged her and finished crunching on some chips, "you've been quiet all lunch."

"I'm always quiet," she reminded him, and he gave a _touché _nod. People began to make their way to their next class, so TJ and Brielle did the same. They followed some other first years around the corner and up a spiral staircase to Transfiguration with Professor Wren Howe, the supposedly evil bird man from introductions. Unfortunately, the class was with the Voras first years, so there would be more snores. At least they'd be able to sit near Cameron without Connor there.

The tables sat three to a desk, and the class seemed completely full; TJ and Brielle sat together and waited for someone - hopefully Cameron - to take the last seat. Cameron entered the room right before the class started, and TJ waved her over. She smiled wide and plopped down next to him.

"I can't believe you're in Voras," TJ said with bewilderment, "Who knew…you're so..._not_ Voras. Ever since we were in grade school, you've been the only girl to play sports and things."

"_I _can't believe you're friends with _my brother_," her eyes widened at Brielle as she put her hair into another tight blonde ponytail. She seemed like she'd ignored TJ almost completely and directed her words just at the other girl, "He's not a people person, I hope he's not been too mean, especially after your fire in the Main Hall. He doesn't take well to people who are different." She must not've known about _his _fire from last year. Brielle shook her head quickly, though TJ gave her a look that he knew she was lying for Cameron's sake.

"Welcome," a voice from the back of the classroom sounded. Everyone turned to see the young, attractive teacher smiling at the class. His dull green eyes scanned the class as he showed a brilliant smile. He rubbed his short, stubbly beard as he made his way to the front of the room slowly and gave the first years the usual speech about what they were going to do in class this year. More Voras were paying attention during the Transfiguration lecture, which worried Brielle; if they paid attention in the class that teaches someone to change the shape of another person, then they must've been planning _something _evil.

"He's cute," Cameron whispered to Brielle, and she smiled at her blonde friend.

"I think so," she said quietly back with a smile, and TJ let out a choking sound and rolled his eyes. The professor cleared his throat.

"Is there a problem, you three?" he demanded and crossed his arms. He suddenly became slightly less cute.

"None," Cameron said with a little smile, and the professor approached their table. He stood in front of TJ first.

"I know you," he said with distaste, "You're the Barry boy, aren't you?" TJ nodded and the professor continued, "Your mother was a good friend of mine in school. It's a real shame."

"What's a shame?" TJ demanded, and Brielle didn't like where this was going. Yep, he definitely wasn't cute anymore.

"That she married that bum of a man father of yours." There were snickers and sneers from the Voras students and before TJ could spark a rebuttal, the Professor held up his wand, so TJ sat silently with a scowl. Howe moved on and strolled past Brielle, putting his hands behind his back and now facing Cameron. "And Miss Ramos, Kelly, right?"

"Cameron," she corrected with a smile, but it quickly faded when he added his next comment.

"You'd better watch your brothers mouth for him, because obviously he can't do it for himself. He's such an awful child. Jacob is - "

"It's Jesse," Brielle spoke up, but kept her eyes forward. Professor Howe turned his head to face Brielle,

"Ah, Little Miss Hawkins," he took a step over and Brielle left her eyes locked straight ahead, trying not to look at the professor. He adjusted himself by kneeling so they had to look at each other. She stared off to the side and crossed her arms tight and protectively over her chest. "Brielle, isn't it? I know about you. The _foster sister _of Professor Madrack, the Potions professor, hmm? Then you must know all sorts of things about magic, right?" He stood and walked in a circle around her desk. "I'm sure you could teach this class for me, couldn't you?" When he got to the front, he spun on his heel and faced her again, expecting an answer. "Hmm?"

"I… um…" she stammered. Brielle didn't like being put on the spot.

"_Um_ what?" he bombarded her, speaking quickly and not giving her room to interrupt, "_Um_ is the response of the ignorant, of the annoyed. Of the _idiotic_."

"I - "

"_Um_ is what people say when they've got something to hide." He slammed his hands down onto the table, making Brielle flinch. She squeezed her eyes shut.

"Professor Howe," TJ said and moved closer to Brielle protectively, but the teacher didn't listen to him.

"Have you got something to hide, Miss Hawkins?" His face got close to Brielle's, who began to shake.

"I - " she squeaked.

"Professor," TJ yelled and stood up. He put his hands on the table and leaned forward to meet the teacher's gaze. The rest of the students in the classroom were silent, and the courageous boy stared angrily at the teacher as Brielle opened her eyes. Howe's burning stare was now on TJ rather than her, "Surely, that's enough."

Howe let out a short breath and removed his hands from the table. "If that's enough, then pay attention during my class." He retreated to the front of the room as TJ sat down. Cameron slung an arm around Brielle with concern, but Brielle's paled face stayed solid. She didn't waver in her expression; eyes locked forward, lips in a small frown, brow low over her eyeline.

_Now _she knew why all the girls didn't have a crush on _him._


	6. Tough Break and an Invisible Man

**I hope you like it so far, I'm really proud that I've gotten 109 reads! (I don't know how good that is but hey I think it's pretty good for 5 chapters) Please be sure to favorite or follow or review if you like the story so far, especially review. I like to hear what everyone has to say :)**

**Enjoy and happy reading :)**

**~J**

**(PS, if I get to 200 reads by my next chapter, I'll start telling you about myself :D)**

**Chapter 5**

"So, what is it you have to hide?" Brielle was back for another Transfiguration class with Professor Howe, and she found herself being interrogated in front of the class once more. This time, TJ wasn't sticking up for her, and Cameron wasn't even paying attention. "Is it the fact that you don't have a solid home?"

"I do," Brielle responded meekly, "Professor, please - "

"Is it that you've no family?"

"Stop - "

"It's that you don't have any friends either," he just kept going, "Maybe it was that you were beaten in other foster homes, and now you think you've finally got something with Evan's family."

"No - "

"It's that you think Evan and all love you but they don't, not anymore than the others did. He's the same as they were."

"He's not, please, Professor - "

"Oh, but he is." Howe rushed over to the desk and knelt in front of her, and she squeezed her eyes shut, "He is, Brielle. Why do you think they didn't make you Brielle _Madrack_, hm? They're not your family."

"Professor, _enough_," Brielle finally spoke up this time, but Howe was already lifting his hands. They slammed down onto the desk and made Brielle jump. Her eyes shot open to darkness.

"Leave me alone!" she screamed.

"Brielle!"

She shot upright and the room was silent, other than the subtle sounds of snores and heavy breaths. She was sweating bullets, but was cold and shaking at the same time. Her own breathing was short and shallow as she looked to the left to see no one, then to her right to see a Prefect. Gemma's dark hair was pulled into a loose braid going down her shoulder as she knelt beside the bed. Her hazel eyes blended in with the dark, but Brielle knew they were comforting and worried. She could almost feel the worry pulsating from her thoughts. Brielle shook fiercely with wide eyes as she looked at the sixth year.

"Gemma…"

"You alright?" Brielle wasn't really sure if she was okay or not. Gemma sat down on the edge of the bed. Brielle sat upright as Gemma wrapped her in a blanket. Even the deep breaths that typically calmed her didn't help. "What happened in the dream? I heard people talking from the hallway and came in to get everyone to sleep, and you were squirming around and mumbling about TJ and Cameron and Howe..."

"He… He just…" she didn't want to relive it, but she could feel the vibration from the table rattling through her bones. "They didn't do anything," she stammered, "They just sat there while he yelled at me and…and…"

Gemma told her not to say it if she was too freaked out, so she was quiet. Her breaths became steadier and she leaned her head on the sixth year's shoulder. Gemma's arm wrapped around Brielle like it had when she brought her into the common room for the first time. Finally, after about three minutes of silence, she spoke up.

"Today in Transfiguration, Professor Howe - " she started slowly, but Gemma shushed her.

"I know, he's a jerk," she whispered, "I heard what happened in class. I just didn't think you'd be getting nightmares about it." Her voice sounded angry, but the comforting look was still on her face. "He's a coward is what he is, yelling at a first year like that. He should be ashamed of himself, he really should."

Brielle sat up and asked, "How'd you know?"

"Well, Jesse's sister told him, an enraged Jesse ranted to Marcos, who was pissed about Howe picking on first years, so he complained to Shaun because Shaun's family is in Ara, and he told me everything. He may have exaggerated some parts, but I heard it through the grapevine, so what can you expect," she explained, "Shaun said that Professor Howe embarrassed all three of you today." Brielle nodded silently. "He said he called TJ's dad a 'bum of a man'." She nodded again, and Gemma looked very concerned at that, "and Cameron 'Kelly' and Jesse 'Jacob'." _Nod_. "And you tried to help, but he just made it worse for you until TJ told him to stop."

Brielle, rather than nodding again, looked across the dormitory to TJ. He was sound asleep on his stomach with one arm hanging off the bed and the other under his face. It was unbelievable how, in two short days, TJ was closer and nicer to her than anyone her age had been in a long time.

"Hmm," Gemma sounded with a smirk and raised an eyebrow. Brielle mimicked her expression.

"What?" She seemed to be asking _what _a lot while she was here.

"I think one of us prefers TJ, and it's certainly not me…" Brielle almost choked on air because she wanted to laugh so badly, but she had to stay silent since everyone was sleeping.

"Oh please. I don't _prefer _anyone - "

"Oh come on, Brielle. I always catch you looking at him, you're always together. I think you like him, and I'm smart enough to know when I'm right," She paused and leaned in a little, "And this is one of those times."

"Gemma," she said maturely, "I'm eleven years old."

"Brielle," Gemma copied her tone with a smile, "_eleven_ doesn't mean _emotionless_." They stayed silent for a little longer, as Brielle didn't have a response for that comment, until the sixth year patted Brielle's leg and stood from the bed. Brielle laid back down and closed her eyes, not even thinking about Professor Howe anymore, but now thinking about someone else...

"For the record," Gemma whispered as she pulled the blanket over the first year's shoulder, "I think he fancies you, as well." Brielle's eyes widened and she shot up, but Gemma was already jogging past the end of the bedpost. She was too far for Brielle to yell after her without waking everyone else up, but close enough to see Gemma give a wink. As she strolled out the door, Brielle looked back at TJ's bed. He'd shifted so his hands were tucked under his cheek and his blanket wrapped around his torso. His dark green shirt was out of order and his usually messy hair was ruffled even more. His breathing was mixed in with the rest of the house's, but she felt like she could only hear his deep, quiet breaths.

He truly was a good friend; Brielle knew that after two days. She laid back down in bed and let her thoughts wander to what Gemma had said about how her age didn't necessarily mean she was completely deadpanned as she drifted slowly back to sleep.

Today, Brielle walked to Potions alone. TJ had to stay in class after Charms was over to speak to Professor Morrison, all because idiot Benji Graves from Raposo blamed one of his practical jokes on TJ. He had to stay after to try and explain his way out of the detention he was awarded, but he'd be late to Potions, so Brielle went on her way. She couldn't find any of the Drakonas Prefects to help get her to class, so she tried to find the route they'd taken yesterday.

She got lost rather quickly.

The girl found herself in a hallway alone after class had already started. The hall was dark and lined with paintings, all of which had people in them. The paintings greeted Brielle as she ventured through the corridor. A plump, pale man in one painting even recognized her, though she'd never seen him before.

"Hello, Miss Hawkins," the man said sweetly, but he was a little creepy.

"Hi," she said shortly and walked quickly past him.

As she made her way to the end of the hall, Brielle heard a clanking and crashing behind her. She whipped around and saw a pure silvery-white figure down the other end that had just knocked over some armour. Brielle watched as the figure tried to pick the metal back up, but he couldn't get a grip. He was a ghost.

"Oi, you," he called to Brielle, and when she responded with a _yes_, he seemed very pleased. "Help a ghost out, hmm?"

She stepped back down the hall cautiously (but hurried past the creepy man) and helped the ghost pick up the chest piece and chain link, though she didn't know how he could've knocked it over without being able to pick it back up. It was like how Rodger was able to carry luggage and things, but not shove Brielle.

"Thank you very much, I - " he cut himself off when he got a better look at Brielle. He put his hands on his nonexistent hips. "Well, I'll be. Brielle Hawkins."

"Y-yes sir," she stammered and gave a small smile.

"I know you, I do," he said, and she had to stop herself from rolling her eyes, "though I bet you get that a lot, I'm sure."

"A bit, yes."

The man looked sort of familiar; he was tall and very _very _skinny with a large puffy shirt and puffy pants to match. He was completely bald, other than a small mustache that was thin around his upper lip and went to the corners of his mouth. He reminded her of William Shakespeare, except he didn't have a beard like Shakespeare did. Maybe that's why he looked so familiar. "Who exactly are you?" Brielle questioned.

"Me?" he retorted, waving a hand in dismissal, "They call me the Invisible Man, they do. How original, right?"

"Quite," she joked, then heard faint footsteps coming down the hall.

"I've been meaning to talk to you, I have. I've got some information for you."

"Me?"

"Yes, you," the Invisible Man pulled a scroll out of his pocket and cleared his throat, as if he was about to announce something. Then he rolled the scroll back up and glided a little closer to the girl. "_You_ should do some research on the Hat of Hohwald, you should."

"The Hat of Hohwald?"

"Brielle?" a voice sounded from behind her.

She turned around and saw TJ standing at the end of the hall with a smile. He strode up to her with a bounce in his step. "I thought you'd be in Potions by now. Say, who were you talking to?"

"I got lost and ran into the Invisible Man," she waved her hand to her ghostly friend, who smiled but looked concerned at the same time.

"Who?"

"The Invisible Man," she repeated, but then her face turned into confusion, "right next to me."

"I'll say he's invisible," TJ said uneasily, "Brielle, I don't see anyone." He shifted from foot to foot, and she was befuddled.

"This is why I'm the _Invisible _Man…" the ghost said sadly. Brielle looked at TJ, but he seemed like he couldn't even hear the voice. "He can't see me, he can't."

"Let's go," TJ said with a frown, almost overlapping with the words of the Invisible Man, "We don't want to be even later than we're already." Brielle stared back at the Invisible Man, who gave her a wink and glided backwards, the silvery finish that accompanied all ghosts shimmering in the light of the corridor. She faced TJ again and followed him, but silently made a mental note to research that hat.

As they walked to Potions, TJ tried to tell her about how he got out of the detention, but Brielle's mind wasn't there. She was too focused on why he couldn't see the Invisible Man, but she could. They entered the room and all of the students stopped what they were doing and turned around. Evan gave a small, warm smile.

"Mister Barry, Miss Hawkins. Glad you could join us today." The pair made their way to an empty desk as the other students gradually went back to work. TJ handed his pass to Evan, but the professor looked expectantly at Brielle.

"I… I got lost," she spoke, as if he _wasn't _the foster brother who she'd spent the past few years of her life with. Suddenly her mind went back to the nightmare, when Professor Howe had said that if Evan was her _real _family, she'd be Brielle _Madrack, _not _Hawkins._ She pushed the thought from the front of her mind to the back, but was still hurt by it.

"Oh, that's quite alright, Elle," he said genuinely and went back to the front of the room. TJ smiled at the name_._

"I like that," he said, "_Elle_. It's a lot shorter than Brielle."

"If you're implying that you'd like to call me _Elle,_" she said with a small smile and a raised eyebrow, "You can." He gave a small laugh and shook his head.

"Nah, I'm waiting until I think of my own _original _nickname for you," he gave a devilish smirk and wiggled his eyebrows.

TJ and Brielle started the beginners' lesson that was on the blackboard - it was mostly things to learn how to setup and tear down their station - but she was still worried about the Invisible Man.

"I'll be right back," she told her partner, who was too busy examining a container of unicorn mucus to notice she was leaving. Brielle made her way to the front of the room where Evan was sitting.

"What's up, Stretch?" he asked and gave the same awkward smile as always.

"Do you know who the Invisible Man is? I ran into him in the hall and TJ couldn't see him." She bounced on the balls of her feet and waited for his response, though his brow furrowed. She didn't like where this was going to go.

"Brielle, I've heard of him from the Ramos kid, but no one else has seen him. He hasn't revealed himself to anyone except apparently you two. I honestly don't believe - "

" - You don't believe we saw him? I had an actual _conversation _with him," she began to get angry, "I… I - "

The bell rang, and Evan stood from his seat and clapped his hands. "Please do some research on the Babbling Beverage, as that's what we will be brewing tomorrow," he announced to the class, then looked back down at his foster sister and gave a small sad smile.

"I'm sorry, I just - "

"Whatever Evan," Brielle mumbled and stormed back to her seat. She grabbed her bag roughly and stormed past TJ without even acknowledging he was there. He called after her, but she stormed through the halls with her head down. One moment, she was flying past people - though she wasn't sure where she was going - and another moment, she was on the ground with her books all around her and her hand on her head. Her glasses were knocked from her nose again, but she knew they'd be fine since Gemma had forever fixed them. She pawed the floor for her books as someone in front of her helped pick them up as well. Her glasses were placed on her nose without words from the other person.

Brielle's eyes flickered up to the boy who was picking up her books, and who other than Jesse was staring back. She let out a breath and held back an involuntary eye roll. If he was being nice, she should at least try to be, as well. "I'm sorry, Jesse - "

"Save it," he said quietly as they stood up and he handed the last of her books back, "You seem upset and having to talk to me would probably make it worse. It wasn't a problem." The two began to walk down the hallway, and Brielle was speechless. She didn't know what to say since he told her she didn't _have_ to say anything, which she was a bit grateful for. If she had to explain what was happening, she would've lost it. Jesse branched off to meet with Brian once they got to Flying, and TJ was already there.

"Are you okay?" he asked with a bit of concern, "You've been off all day, Brielle."

"Yeah, it's nothing," she gave a weak smile and pushed it aside, and TJ obviously caught on that he should just leave it be, regardless of how bad a liar she was. It wasn't nothing. It wasn't even the fact that Evan and TJ couldn't see the Invisible Man, but quite frankly, it stung when they seemed to think she was going _mad _and didn't even _consider _that there could be a man of the sorts. It would've made sense if they didn't believe her because she had a background of making things like these up, but she didn't.

Brielle decided to stay focused on the lesson and school in general, not so much on the Invisible Man - for right now, at least. She needed to get a head start on the school year, plus she desperately wanted to make the Quidditch team and show everyone that she could, even as a first year.

Though, as she flew, she didn't really push the Man out of her mind. He and the Hat of Hohwald (or whatever he'd called it) were stuck in the front of her brain. Why, she didn't know.

Okay, that was a lie. She knew _exactly _why she couldn't stop thinking of them. Stupid curiosity.

Brielle perched herself comfortably on her broom, glaring out across the lesson. She watched some first years struggling on the ground still, the Voras kids mostly. An eye roll accompanied one girl whenever the professor turned around because he kept correcting her form and she didn't understand why (she kept saying, "I've been flying since before you were even _awarded _the title 'flying instructor.'").

"You seem happy," Brian's voice interrupted sarcastically as he flew next to Brielle. Jesse joined him on the other side of her. "You want company?" She just glared lazily at him and said _no thank you_, and he nodded. "Too bad, we're staying." She rolled her eyes at their insistence, but let it go. Jesse flew in front of Brielle and perched himself cross-legged on his broom, mimicking the way she was sitting.

"You okay?" he asked, but didn't seem genuine, "I heard you yelling at Howe in your sleep last night."

"Oi, that was you?" Brian chimed in, and Brielle could feel all the heat in her body rise to her cheeks, "I kept hearing _'no, no professor please, stop professor' _and _'TJ do something_'_._ Do you want to talk about it?" He made a mockingly sympathetic face as Brielle rolled her eyes.

"Please shove _off_, Brian," she mumbled and flew away rapidly, as if he couldn't just follow her. Which Jesse ended up doing.

"That was a bit rude," he told her sarcastically, "Brian's just trying to be nice."

"I said please," she pointed out and crossed her arms, "But I don't see why _you_ get to call _me _rude."

"Maybe because you are…?" Jesse was a completely different person from before, when he'd helped her pick her books up. It was crazy how quickly his personality could change.

"You're _kidding _me, aren't you, Jesse?" it took everything she had not to full on yell at him, "You called me a freak for spitting fire, even though I _know _you did the same last year." His face turned a slight shade of red. "You've yelled at me every day so far and seem like you can't go ten seconds without doing something to embarrass me and make me feel like a twit."

"But, you _are _a twit," Jesse joked with a small smirk, and Brielle looked at him with annoyance.

"Are you not listening?" she practically screamed with a slight, disbelieving laugh to her voice, "Don't joke with me as if you're my friend, because, even though at the Banquet you said we could try to get along, you haven't been putting in your half of this 'friendship'. You've been nothing but obnoxious ever since the Banquet so don't even _pretend _like we're friends."

"Oh, come on, Brielle," he said with that ignorant, idiotic, stupid smile and shoved Brielle's arm "playfully". He ended up pushing her a little too hard, though, and she lost her balance. She toppled from her broom, hurtling fast towards the ground. This wasn't like when she and Evan were transported to the Duka; she wasn't going to slow down three feet from the ground. Brielle let out a scream and heard someone else yell out, as well. Before she knew it, she hit the ground with a thud, the broomstick hitting her square in the head. She heard a crack and a sharp pain in her shoulder. And then things went black.

When she woke up, Brielle was in the hospital wing. She tried to sit upright, but her head was pounding every time she moved even the slightest bit. Her entire left arm - shoulder and all - was killing her; there was a large cast around it and it was held over her head by a sling attached to a pole.

"Whoa there, kid," a kind voice, Gemma's, said from the bedside. She put her hands on Brielle's shoulders lightly to keep her laying down, "Take it easy. You've only just woken up. Do you want anything to drink?"

"No, thank you," she responded and gave a small smile, "Right now, I'd just like to sit up." Gemma reluctantly helped Brielle, but it was still very painful all over her body, not just her head. She gritted her teeth, but finally got up. Shaun was with Gemma - which wasn't a surprise - and stood at the end of Brielle's bed.

"You took a nasty fall," he pointed out, "You really shouldn't sit up yet." Gemma gave him a sharp look, and he dropped the matter. "I saw what happened from the Charms room. Who was with you, on the other broom? I saw someone fly down after you but you fell too fast."

"Jesse," she mumbled, and Gemma looked confused, "he thought we're friends, but he's just a - "

"Wait, what exactly happened?" Gemma interrupted, and good thing, too, because Brielle probably would've called him words she technically wasn't allowed to say as an eleven year old.

"I'll tell you what happened," a rather large woman with hair in a tiny, sprouting ponytail on top of her head walked up to the bedside and leaned on the wall. She had a kind voice but looked a little rough around the edges, "You dislocated your shoulder, broke your wrist, sprained your ankle, _and _you have a severe concussion." _Dang_, Brielle thought. She swallowed, but even that hurt. "Shaun's right, that _was _quite a fall. You're gonna have to stay here for another few days, and no flying for two weeks after that to give your head and wrist a rest."

"But, the tryouts - " Brielle tried to argue, but the look on the woman's face showed she was serious. This was a huge disappointment for Brielle. The Drakonas tryouts were scheduled on two fridays from now - ten days away. _Ten days._ And Brielle wouldn't even be allowed to go.

"I'm sorry, but we haven't got all of the ingredients needed for the potion that'd normally heal that faster. Harvey was supposed to do it over the summer but hadn't until this morning. They won't be in for another week or so. Sorry, kiddo," she seemed genuinely upset as she walked away. Brielle looked sadly at Gemma.

"Marcos told me I'd be a good fit," she whimpered to the pair of Prefects and tried to readjust herself, but it hurt to much to move anywhere, "They need a beater."

"I know," Shaun agreed sympathetically and strolled over to the side of the bed. He helped Brielle readjust herself without it hurting too badly. "I'm sorry." They sat in silence for a few minutes, and then Shaun turned to Gemma. "We'd better go." She nodded, but kept her eyes on Brielle.

"We do have to go," she told Brielle and put her hand over the first year's. Brielle gave a small smile.

"Don't worry about it, Gemma. Thank you for checking on me, but really, I'm fine."

She didn't look convinced - probably because Brielle's voice was hoarse and scratchy - but Gemma stood with Shaun and walked away quietly. They got to the door, and it burst open, an eager student looking around. Of course it was Jesse. His sad and terrified eyes locked with Brielle's and he began to walk over, but Shaun grabbed his arm before he made any progress. He shoved Jesse a little into the door, and when he tried to push against Shaun, the sixth year boy, shoved him harder into the wall. Gemma put a hand on his shoulder, but he stayed put.

"I don't think she wants to see you, mate," he told Jesse roughly. Jesse's eyes moved from Brielle to Shaun and back again, but Shaun was serious. "Let's go, come on." Jesse nodded and left the hospital wing slowly, before the two Prefects. Brielle was silently grateful to Shaun for doing that for her; they weren't friends, he was probably just here for Gemma's sake. But still, it was a kind thing to do. He turned before he left and gave Brielle a small nod, then followed Jesse and Gemma out the door.

Throughout the four days spent in the hospital wing, Brielle made friends with Madame Greene, the woman who worked there. A few times a day, she'd sit down with Brielle and bring her food, and she gradually helped Brielle move from the above-the-head sling to a sling that settled on her shoulder, and eventually to no sling at all. Her shoulder was back in the right place, but her wrist was still broken. Her sprained ankle was healed too, but not by a brace - Madame Greene said she didn't need any sort of splint for it since her concussion kept her bed-ridden for the time being, plus the medication she was taking strengthened the ankle by itself.

TJ came by once a day before dinner with Cameron, bringing her any homework assignments and telling her everything that's been happening in classes, mostly Transfiguration with Professor Howe-is-he-still-employed, as they began to call him. He'd been rough on anyone who stepped out of line during his class, but most recently, he was talking about Brielle.

"He said that it wasn't a shock someone like you fell off her broom, especially since you kept babbling _um _like an idiot," TJ told her distastefully with an American accent, "He's a coward, is what he is. Jesse _pushed _you, I saw it."

"He hadn't meant to," Brielle told them. She didn't know if this was true or not, but she was trying to spare Cameron's feelings. She clearly felt bad that her brother had done it, and, although TJ probably didn't mean to, he was making it worse on Cameron.

Gemma and Shaun stopped by one more time, after dinner on the second day. Shaun had left early, and Brielle took this opportunity to ask Gemma a few questions. "Gemma, do you know anything about the Hat of Hohwald?" Gemma let out a short breath and racked her memory, then nodded.

"The Hat was created by Lorenzo Hohwald, who was a very scientific wizard. His discoveries and inventions ran more along the lines of Muggle science than they did magic, though he used magic to achieve his ends sometimes. The Hat was one of those times.

The story goes that Hohwald wanted to start a bonfire for the leaves he'd raked, but every time he finally got a fire going, his neighbor would blast his hose and put the fire out. Hohwald wanted to get back at him so badly that he took his favorite wizard's hat and riddled it with spells and charms until it contained the ability to control fire. He wore the Hat one day and burned all of the leaves, and, when his neighbor tried to put the fire out, he made it grow and grow, and then sent it at the man's house. The home and everything inside of it was destroyed, and Hohwald became obsessed with power, then dropped off the earth for a few years." She paused and furrowed her brow, like she knew more but couldn't remember it.

"Thank you, that was very helpful," Brielle said with a small smile, and Gemma turned her confused gaze to the first year.

"Why the sudden interest?"

"If I told you, you'd think I'm mad," she responded honestly, and Gemma smiled sweetly.

"I already _know _you're mad," she joked, and then Madame Greene told her visiting hours were over.

She was just happy to get information on the Hat of Hohwald, despite her inability to move anywhere for the next day and a half.

When she finally got out of bed and returned to the common room, TJ helped her finish up the homework assignments she'd missed. Being a righty, she was happy that it was her left arm that was injured. At least she could still write, though every ten minutes she had to take a break because of her head. While they were working on naming constellations for Astronomy, Marcos sat down at their table.

"I'm so sorry, Brielle," he apologized, and sounded completely genuine, "I heard you won't be able to make tryouts." Brielle nodded bitterly because Marcos was friends with Jesse, and she knew she shouldn't say anything about how Jesse'd pushed her, but she decided against it.

It was hard to believe Mickey and Marcos were brothers. Much like Cameron and Jesse, they looked nothing alike. While Marcos was short with burning red hair and freckles, Mickey was kind of tall with blonde hair and faded blue eyes.

Marcos continued to speak, which surprised Brielle. She thought this was just a pity conversation. "I have an idea, though. What would you say if it just so happened to rain in the pitch on the day of tryouts, and I postponed them?" Brielle's eyes lit up as she smiled wide.

"You can do that?" she excitedly asked, and Marcos shook his head.

"I _technically _can't," his voice went to a whisper, "which is why you can't tell anyone, alright?" Brielle nodded with a huge smile on her face. She was so happy that she could almost hug him - key word: almost.

Marcos winked and strolled away, and she looked at TJ in disbelief.

"That's perfect!" TJ shared her happiness, which Brielle was relieved about. She was happy that he wasn't bitter about it because she knew he loved Quidditch and wanted to be on the team as badly as she did. That's how she knew TJ was a real friend, because real friends are genuinely happy for each other no matter what.

They got back to Astronomy quickly, but something was still plaguing Brielle's mind. "Teej," she asked, and he looked up, his eyes going from brown to blue. She'd ask about that later, but for now -

"I need your help with some research." TJ's brow furrowed as he asked what class it was for. She shook her head. "Not a class. Individual research."

"Well, sure," he said with a smile, "What on?"

"I want to look into Lorenzo Hohwald."

"Hohwald?" he asked, "Why?"

"Because of something I heard about him," she lied. If she told him it was a research project from the Invisible Man, he'd probably lose it. But she was a bad liar, so he saw right through her. "Alright," she moaned, "it's something the Invisible Man told me." He looked at her with defeat, but reluctantly agreed.

"Fine, but I still don't understand this Invisible Man business."

"_You_ don't need to understand it," she countered as she wrapped up her schoolwork, "You just have to help _me _understand it."


	7. An Essay and a Really Bad Joke

**Chapter 6**

**Hey guys :)**

**So I have two followers at the present time and two reviews, and I was wondering what I should do to make my story more appealing. Going down the list of chapters, I realized that I have about fifty-some reads on the preface, and then the numbers go down drastically the more into the story you go. If you have any suggestions of what you want to read, leave them in the comments/reviews below :) Thank y'all and happy reading :)**

**~J**

"Well, well, well," Professor Howe purred as Brielle sat down at her Transfiguration table between Cameron and TJ. They sat closer to her, as they didn't trust the professor any more than Brielle did, "Look who's back."

"Hello, Professor," Brielle said bitterly.

"While you were gone," he said and leaned on the table, making Brielle scootch back and turn her head. Cameron's arm instinctively tighten around Brielle's shoulder, "I handed out an assignment to write a two thousand word essay on the Bird-Conjuring Charm."

"No you didn't," TJ growled, "You told us to read over page fifty-five, which _contained _the Bird-Conjuring Charm, but not write an essay on it."

"If you were listening yesterday, Barry," the Professor responded without taking his beady eyes off the girl in the middle, "You would've heard me say that the assignment was only for bespectacled girls who like to stutter."

Brielle's jaw locked as she gritted her teeth. Cameron chimed in now, "That's not fair! She's been out with a concussion and an injured arm, and she's finished all of your assignments. She isn't going to be able to write - "

"Casey, I've told you not to call out," he said quietly with a small, sickening smile. He stood upright as all three students glared at him.

"Right, then," he said as he walked away. "By tomorrow, Miss Hawkins."

As she pushed another piece of hair behind her ear, Brielle pulled a piece of parchment from her satchel. Her hair was being very stubborn tonight and wasn't cooperating when she tried to put it up, so she'd just left it down. Now, she really wished she'd forced it into that braid. It was so annoying and always in her face.

She pulled a quill and some ink from her bag, as well, then placed them on the table by the fire. She began writing to Joseph, as she'd decided to procrastinate with the essay until later tonight, when TJ would be able to help her. In the letter she'd leave out the part about Jesse pushing her off the broom. Knowing Joe, he'd storm to Aboriginal and give Jesse a beating.

She also decided that she'd leave out Quidditch; she knew that Evan probably already told their parents about her plans to tryout since he seemed to be good friends with Professor Dekél, though in case he hadn't, she certainly wasn't going to bring it up. She also was going to leave out the part about the Invisible Man and such…

Basically, this was going to be a letter about her classes, minus Transfiguration.

_Dearest Joseph,_

_I'm sorry that I haven't written recently. It's because of all my schoolwork and such. This is tougher than any Muggle schools I've been in, but it's much more fun. I guess I'll start with where I was sorted. I'm in Drakonas, like Evan was, and I'm extremely happy with that. I'm actually in a house with people who understand me, people who don't think I'm a freak because I'm different, you know?_

That part stung a bit; she'd been called a freak a few times since she was here, directly _and _indirectly (mostly by Jesse but a few times by Voras during Flying). She didn't like to lie to Joseph, but she also didn't want him to worry.

_I've made a few friends here. There's a Drakonas first year named TJ, whose eyes change color all the time from blue to brown to blue. It's curious to me because I don't know what makes them change like that. I haven't gotten around to asking him yet… Another one is a girl named Cameron Ramos, who's a first year in Voras but should really be in Drakonas or Raposo. She's really very sweet and a good friend. We're not sure what made her Voras, but Jesse, her brother, and I have a theory that…_

She wrote about Gemma and how she was a sixth year, but she was one of her closest friends. Brielle also talked about her classes and such, as that was the most important thing to him. As she heard another student enter the common room, she stayed in her spot because she didn't really care who it was and finished the letter:

_Though it's stressful, the teachers have mostly been a big help getting me settled in and used to everything. Being a witch is what it's cracked up to be, all right. Thank you for sending me here, Joe. I really appreciate it. I'll see you next week for Christmas._

_~Brielle_

As she pushed the parchment up on the table to dry, Brielle felt a leg brush her own as a body plopped down right beside her. She rolled her eyes, as the only people to sit this close to her were Jesse or TJ. She knew it wasn't TJ; he'd gone to Professor Howe's room for a detention because TJ had "talked back and was a disruption during class", so he probably wouldn't be back until later. She didn't look at Jesse, even when he cleared his throat, but she _did _respond.

"What do you want?"

She could almost feel the eyebrow raise he gave her. Brielle's eyes lingered up to his with annoyance, and she had been right; his eyebrows were in place high above his eyes.

"Come on, Brielle," Jesse said as she stood, picking the parchment up from the table to move to the desk above her bed in the dormitory, "Brielle," he repeated after she ignored him. He grabbed her arm before she could walk away, and she glared down at him. Jesse let out a deep breath through his nose. "Can we just talk?" She swallowed and placed the parchment back on the table, sitting back down further away from him. Her lips scrunched to the side as she crossed her good arm over the casted one, not meeting his eyes.

"What is it you want?" she asked roughly, and when he didn't respond right away, she considered getting up and leaving again. This wasn't a conversation she was looking forward to having, just because it was with _him._

"I want to start over," he said, and for once he actually sounded genuine. Brielle's eyes lifted and locked with his, which appeared a dull green in the light of the fireplace rather than the shocking green she was used to. Brielle softened a bit, but then put her guard back up and gave him a disgusted look. She wasn't falling into this just for him to turn around and make her feel useless tomorrow.

"Doubtful," she grumbled and moved to stand, but he grabbed her hand before she could even straighten her legs. Brielle's face and neck turned a bright shade of pink and she looked at his hand over hers on the plush purple couch. He began to trace small circles on the back of her hand with his thumb, and she yanked it away quickly, appalled.

"I'm serious," he said, "the thing is, I don't know how to treat girls as _friends _because I'm in Drakonas. We're _guys_, not communication you want me to hit on you, it's how I make friends. I'm just treating you as one of us."

She considered that for a moment, trying to word her thoughts carefully, "So, if Marcos or Mickey had a nightmare that Professor Howe was screaming at him and slamming his hands on the desk, you'd treat them the way you did me? You'd be sarcastic and mock his yelling out, something he couldn't control?" Brielle just kept talking and talking because all of her emotions came pouring out after being bottled up for so long. Despite their dispute on the brooms, she never had a chance to let someone really have it, so she took this one. She kept her voice even but strong as she spoke, "Would you? Because it's certainly not what I would've done, to a guy or a girl. Making fun of someone you're not originally friends with isn't _making _friends, if anything it makes them want to punch you in the throat."

"See, that right there. _That_ is why you're in Drakonas," he told her with a small smile, "You don't take crap from anybody...and you know what you want." She couldn't help but hear a hint of lewdness in his voice, but then shook it off. It couldn't be so.

"What I want is for you to leave me alone unless you're going to be nice, and not just when your friends aren't around," she responded.

Brielle paused to allow Jesse to soak that in. He nodded and said simply, "Noted." There was another pause, but Jesse continued before Brielle could, "Look, you're smart. You should be able to understand this. In Drakonas, all we ever do is mock each other, so I figured you'd be the same way, you know? I see you and TJ are always messing with each other, so I just kind of assumed. D' you know how Mickey and I became friends?" Brielle shook her head. "He tripped and fell, and I laughed, helped him up, and when he called me a _pinhead first year_, I pushed him over again. The point is, he's now my best friend."

"You sure do like to push people over, don't you?" she asked sarcastically with a small smirk, and he pointed to her. She wiped the smile off her face right away.

"I knew it! You're sarcastic, too," he exclaimed with a triumphant smile. She rolled her eyes and gave up, "It's a Drakonas thing."

"Fine, then. So how do you suppose we _start over_?" she questioned, and he gave a large smile. By his response, he looked like he'd put a lot of thought into this.

"Let's just be ourselves," he said, "You be the cute, anxious, shy first year student, and I'll be the the suave, charming, sophisticated second year Keeper." Brielle rolled her eyes as he stood up and jogged to the other side of the common room. He swayed back over smoothly and plopped down on the polar opposite side of the couch, picking up a magazine and flipping through it. She let out a little laugh, but went along with it.

"Hi," she said as if they hadn't had a bunch of conversations already. He looked up from the Quadpot magazine and smiled.

"Hey, what's up Mamacita?" he asked and winked, and she worked to contain herself. He relaxed his shoulders and frowned.

"I can't help it!" she told him and gave another laugh.

"What if you just...cleared your mind?" he suggested, "Don't think of me as _Jesse the Jerk_. Think of me as a stranger who you're eager to meet. Close your eyes."

She looked at him warily, but then nodded. "Fine," she mumbled and readied herself. She couldn't believe she was actually doing this.

Brielle cleared her mind of everything bad as she closed her eyes, and Brielle heard Jesse whisper something. When she opened her eyes to ask what he'd said, his wand was glowing bright. She squinted at the light, and when she knew it was gone, she opened her eyes completely. On the other side of the couch, a boy sat reading his magazine. She swallowed hard, as she couldn't remember seeing him sit down. He looked kind of familiar, with green eyes that should've made a lasting impression but didn't seem to.

He looked up to her staring at him and put his magazine on his lap. He was still slouched over a bit.

"Oh, hello," he said, "What's up Mamacita?" the boy asked, and her face reddened as she gave a small smile. She pushed a long piece of hair from her face and looked at the ground. The boy looked to the letter on the table. "Writing a letter to your_ boyfriend_?"

Her smile wavered and her brow dropped low over her solid gray eyes. "No," she spit rather harshly. It's not like Brielle meant to be rude, but she certainly didn't want _him _thinking she has a boyfriend, though she didn't know what made her feel that way. "No," she repeated more calmly and with another little smile. She found the boy's dark hair, green eyes, and tan skin rather cute all put together, and the fact that he'd called her _Mamacita _made her laugh inside.

Was this normal, the nickname _Mamacita_? Probably, and she just didn't realize it.

"He's my...um...father, actually. He's been worried about me, not making friends and all. I haven't spoken to him in ages, what with all my schoolwork and everything." She pushed her glasses further up her nose as he nodded,

"Father, huh?" he asked with a little bit of skepticism to his voice.

"Well," she said quickly, contemplating telling him about her foster background. This boy didn't seem like anything of a jerk, so she might as well. "He's my _foster _father actually…"

The boy didn't respond, but his small smile didn't falter, either. She frowned, but he looked at her with intent. "Alright then. As long as he's not your boyfriend." The boy gave a quick wink, and she felt her cheeks heat up again.

"So," she changed the subject, her anxiety just flying away for some reason, like he was the easiest person in the world to talk to. Brielle raised an eyebrow, "you seem like a nice kid, I'm sure you've got tons of friends. What are you doing down here, wasting time with me?"

"What, I can't make _new _friends?" he asked with his own raised eyebrow.

"Yes, I suppose you could make _new _friends," Brielle mocked with a small smirk, "but why with a lowly first year?"

"Well, first years are people too, regardless of what the seventh years may think. Besides, I'm not one of those second year boys who can walk by a pretty girl without _at least_ saying hi."

Her eyebrows rose sky high as she asked, "Pretty girl?" Brielle's voice cracked a tiny bit and she bit back a giant smile. _Pretty_. The only person who had called Brielle pretty before was… Well, no one. "I don't know about that, but thank you, anyways."

"I do know, though," he said with a wink.

Shoving aside the idea that he'd _honestly _think she was pretty - he was probably just some second year tease - she remembered that she didn't know his name, and that was something she absolutely wanted to know. She met her set of gray eyes to his pair of green ones, admiring the color. They were striking; she'd always found eyes particularly stunning on others, especially boys.

She was staring into those eyes as he said smoothly, "I feel like you're one of those girls who's beautiful, but she's just too modest to know it." He sat up and slid a little closer to Brielle, who concaved herself and self-consciously tried to hide her injured arm, which she didn't remember ever hurting. The anxiety was coming back to her now. "I'm Jesse," he said softly, putting his arm on the back of the couch. His fingers, which were right by her ear, rubbed the fabric slowly.

"Brielle," she said in a daze, his eyes capturing her. When she finally blinked because the sting in her eyes was too great, she felt all of her nerves sink back into her. Her stomach began to ache and she looked down at the ground immediately. She frowned and cursed herself as he moved a little further away.

"What a pretty name to fit such a charming girl."

Brielle's eyes lingered back up as she seemed to work some more confidence back. She blushed and released her casted arm, putting the free hand on the couch between them. He slid back coolly, as if she wouldn't notice, and smirked almost cockily. He seemed to be a big player - he knew all the right things to say and do - and she hoped he didn't do this with all girls, because she seemed to be falling for him. He certainly _was _a sweet boy. She wasn't sure of what to say, so instead she slid a little closer to him, closing the remaining space between them.

That stupid piece of hair fell into her face once more, and suddenly she wished she'd put it into a bun before she came into the common room. She decided to just leave it be since it wasn't really obstructing her vision, but Jesse had a different idea. He leaned in slowly, his arm bending and his tan hand moving over her cheek slowly to guide the piece of hair back in place. Her eyes flickered to his fingers, which lingered behind her ear.

"Never hide your face," he said quietly, his breath tickling her cheek, and she shivered. Brielle looked back at his eyes, which were only a few inches away from hers now, "It's much too pretty." She smiled wide and didn't even try to hide it anymore; it wasn't worth it. She was about to thank him for the kind words when something completely unexpected happened. He leaned in the rest of the way and put his hand below her chin. He turned her head to the side slowly and pressed his lips to her cheek, which he could probably feel burning up. When he pulled back, Brielle had to tell herself to keep her hand at her side and not bring it to her cheek.

"Um..." she stammered and looked back up at the boy sitting across from her. Brielle's once calm demeanor switched over immediately, going back to nervous and shy, "I, um..." Before she could say anything, he chuckled.

"You're quite cute, you know that?" he smiled, placing his one hand on the back of the couch and playing with the hair behind her ear, and the other over hers. He began to make small circles on the posterior of it.

"Brielle," another voice snapped her out of her trance. TJ approached the couch with a confused look on his face. Brielle smiled at him.

"TJ, this is Jesse," she introduced the cute boy to her friend, but Jesse looked nervous and TJ looked hurt.

"Yeah, I know, I'm the one who introduced you two in the first place, remember?" he pointed out a little bitterly, then his eyes widened in what looked like realization. Jesse looked really guilty now.

"What d' you mean?" she asked and looked back and forth between the two, "I just met Jesse five minutes ago."

"And what were you doing right before that?" TJ glowered at Jesse.

"I was…" she couldn't remember, but from the looks of things, she had written to Joseph. But that had to've been more than five minutes ago because the ink on the parchment already looked drier than it should've been after just five minutes. "I'm not sure…"

"Exactly," he said and snatched Brielle's hand from Jesse's, pulling her off the couch, but she refused.

"No, I want to stay with Jesse," she complained, but he dragged her along anyways. Brielle looked back and smiled at Jesse, but he didn't return it; instead, he looked at her apologetically, then covered his face with his hands and ran them through his hair.

His perfectly dark, silky hair.

"We need to get you to Dekél," he mumbled as he pulled her out of the common room roughly by her good arm. "Brielle, you _hate _Jesse. He's the one who hurt your wrist, remember?"

She shook her head; all she could remember about Jesse was how sweet he was and how he kissed her, even if it was only on the cheek. She really liked him and didn't understand why TJ was being so skittish about them meeting. Besides, how could Jesse have been the one to break her arm if she'd never even met him?

They finally got to the professor's office, the entire time Brielle talking about Jesse and what a gentleman he was. TJ looked like he was going to be sick. He knocked on the door, and after a moment, the professor called for them to come in. TJ pushed through the door with frustration; Brielle couldn't remember him ever being like this, so angry.

"Professor Dekél," he said, and she looked up with a smile. She frowned when she got a better look at the pair, "I think we have a problem with Brielle." Marcos was sitting on the countertop in the corner; they must've been having a conversation before she and TJ had come in. He also frowned at the pair.

"Well, what is it?" the blonde professor asked. Her hair was still pulled into the same tight ponytail as before.

"Jesse used the _Obliviate Dilectio _spell on her," he said distastefully and led Brielle to the chair by the professor's desk. He plopped her down, and she smiled dreamily and giggled. The first year wasn't really paying attention to what was happening; all she could think about was those green eyes. "She's gone mad for him."

"I've not gone _mad _for anyone," she said in the same haze as before.

"Really?" he asked and crossed his arms. He looked at Marcos, then back at the girl, "I've heard that Marcos over there is the cutest boy in school."

Brielle smirked up at him, "Oh, _please_. He's beaten out easily by a second year."

"And who's the second year?"

She giggled again, "Why, Jesse, of course." Marcos looked like he was trying to contain laughter as Brielle spoke, "He's got those beautiful green eyes and silky brown hair and - "

"I see, I've got what you need," Professor Dekél said with a little laugh of her own. She pulled her wand and pointed it at Brielle. "_Memento._" A little red wisp of smoke drifted from Brielle's temple into the light of the wand. The first year sat still and watched it, all of her memories flooding back to her of when Jesse pushed her off the broom, how he'd called her a freak; everything - and, now, how he'd charmed her to fall for him.

"So?" Professor Dekél asked, "How do you feel?"

She gritted her teeth and looked at the two other students. She glared at the professor and growled, "Like I'm going to kill Jesse Ramos."

"_Jesse!_" Brielle erupted through the doors once she reached the common room. She looked around, and the second year seemed to be missing. She spotted Mickey in the corner with a girl, leaning against the wall and talking to her, but Brielle didn't care; she stormed up to them and yanked him by the shoulder, pressing him against the wall.

"What's your - "

"_Where's Jesse_?" she hissed, and he yanked his arm away, but she was as strong as him from the adrenaline rushing through her veins, so she was able to keep him pinned against the wall. The threat of being clubbed in the head by her cast probably helped, too. "Mickey_, where is he?_" Suddenly, she felt someone pick her up by the arms and remove her from in front of Jesse's friend. She thrashed in the air and kicked and yelled, but whoever it was remained much too strong for the first year.

"Let me _go_," she commanded as the person spun and put her down, facing away from Mickey. The entire common room was turned and watching now, but she didn't care. She yanked out of the person's grip and turned around to see Shaun. She gritted her teeth as he spoke calmly.

"Whoa, kid, what's wrong?" he seemed calmer than usual, though she had a feeling he'd get rambunctious after she told him. She moved quickly again to go back after Mickey, but Shaun caught her by the waist first. "Brielle!"

"His jerk of a friend used me!" she screamed and fought against Shaun's grip, "he put me under some love spell and took advantage of me! I'm gonna kill him!"

"Brielle calm down," Shaun gritted his teeth and pulled her back. He grabbed her shoulders and faced her towards him. She kept looking over his shoulder to Mickey and the other Drakonas girl, but Shaun grabbed her cheeks - which she had to scrub intensely tonight - and made her look at him, "Listen to me. Who was it?"

"Jesse," she said angrily, short of breath from all her yelling.

"What'd he do?"

"He tricked me into trusting him and casted a spell and for some reason I couldn't remember him and he, he, he...he _kissed _me, Shaun - "

"Hey," he whispered and looked from eye to eye, "Hey. You're alright now, right?"

"Yes but he took something from me that I'll never get back, and he used me. I told him something I _swore _I'd never tell anyone while I was here, and…and..." Brielle just lost it. She couldn't handle it anymore, and she squatted to the ground, her head in her hands, and turned all of her anger into sadness. She tilted her head back as the first tear in a very long time rolled down her cheek. "I trusted him."

Suddenly footsteps came from behind her, and Shaun's jaw locked. She didn't want to see who it was, but Shaun kind of gave it away when he stood upright and clenched his fists. Brielle stood up as she turned around to see Jesse looking at her, jaw down like he was going to say something. And he did.

"Brielle, I never meant for you to - " he started, but she turned her sadness back into anger and stormed up to him, pulling her wand from her boot smoothly as she did. He backed away quickly with his hands up and tripped, falling on his bum. Before she could cast anything at him, Shaun grabbed her arms and picked her up, pulling her away. She dropped her wand as he carried her backwards.

"_Liar!_" she yelled as Shaun dragged her back, reprimanding her arms as she thrashed against his grip, "You took advantage of me, Jesse, you manipulated me when I wasn't even _aware _of it!" She just kept yelling as Shaun, who was now joined by TJ, held her back. She shrugged out of their grips, but didn't go at Jesse again. She couldn't even explain how angry she was; _angry _wasn't even the right word for it.

"I told you about Joseph, you took my gullibility, and you tricked me into almost kissing you - "

"That's not what I wanted to happen, Brielle, I wanted to start over," he said as he stood up.

"Then why did you kiss my cheek?" she went to walk towards him, but Shaun grabbed her arm, so she continued in place, "Why did you sit so close to me and - "

"Hey, kid," Gemma, who Brielle hadn't even realized was there, stepped between her and Jesse. She rubbed her hands on Brielle's arms, and they locked eyes. Gemma gave a sweet smile. "It's okay, he's not worth it. Save your breath."

"But - "

She shushed the first year and pushed a piece of hair behind her ear, "He isn't worth it."

"Brielle," Jesse said as he took a few steps forward, but Shaun brushed past the girls and told him that was enough, but he continued, "What I did was because I didn't want to make an enemy."

"Well you did," she didn't even have a word to call him as she backed away with Gemma. She leaned on the wall, emotionally tired. Brielle began to feel the pain from her concussion erupt in her head again as she slid down the wall, putting her arms around her knees and dropping her head to her lap. She let out a few sobs; she hated crying because she believed it made one look weak, but she couldn't help it. It took everything she had to only sob and not to full on bawl.

She felt a body slide down next to her, and she looked up to Shaun. Marcos and TJ were getting everyone to stop staring, but it wasn't helping much that Gemma was laying into Jesse in the corner. Jesse kept looking over at Brielle, but Gemma continuously moved so he wouldn't be able to see her.

"What the _hell _were you thinking?" she was yelling, and Jesse wasn't responding, "You're _twelve, _she's _eleven_! You're such a little - "

"I didn't mean - "

"So your lips accidentally touched her face, is that it?" Gemma was going really hard on him, which he completely deserved.

Brielle looked back a Shaun when he gave her a nudge. "What are you thinking?" he asked. She didn't answer because if she told him what she was thinking, she'd probably be expelled. He restated the question, "Let's try this...how are you feeling?"

She shrugged and wriggled uncomfortably. "Violated…"

He gave a small laugh, but his face still looked concerned. "It's not like you full on snogged, though, right?"

Brielle leaned her head against the wall, avoiding his attempt to make it better, and looked straight ahead to the pennant flags hanging from the ceiling across the common room. "I don't think I've ever been this mad before," she continued, "I've never yelled at anyone like that." There was a small silence, and Shaun took a breath.

"I understand why you did," he told her, and she looked at the sixteen year old with question. He continued, "You said he kissed you, yes?" She nodded slowly.

"On the cheek, but still," she corrected.

"My guess is, that was your first...kiss," he looked uncomfortable, but kept talking, "Heck, if someone I hated that much kissed me while I was delusional, I'd be pissed too." She swallowed and looked forward again.

"Thanks," she mumbled, "but now not only am I the ditz first year who fell off her broom, but I'm the freak who lashed out in front of everyone over nothing, too."

"It wasn't over _nothing_," he told her, and she shrugged again. The pause after that seemed like an eternity. "You're not a freak," he finally said, "_Jesse _pushed you, he casted _Obliviate Dilectio _on you. Neither of those were your fault, you know that." She rolled her eyes a little.

"_I _know that, but not everyone else does, and they'll take his word over mine because they've known him longer and has plenty of friends who'll spread the word," she continued through a yawn, "I don't want people stopping to stare at me as I walk by now, but they will." Shaun chuckled a little and moved to one knee next to Brielle.

"Come on, let's get you to bed," he said soothingly and held out a hand, but she just looked at him.

"I don't want to go in there," she said scaredly.

"Let's go, come on now," he said and lifted her up, carrying her across his shoulder. She yawned again as he entered the first through fourth year dormitories, and she'd been right. People were staring and whispering as Shaun made his way to her bed. She saw a few boys in the corner stop playing wizard chess and stare at her.

Let the isolation begin.


End file.
